Sovia
by UniversalIndicator
Summary: There are many untold stories within the depths of the Hobbit. Sovia is a young female dragon and the mate of Smaug. She has always regretted the loss of life that comes with being a hunter but has always amounted it as the natural order of things. Still, her life with Smaug changes after a certain hobbit knocks on her door. NOW COMPLETE! :D
1. Beginnings

**PLEASE dont throw anything at me!**

** I know i should be working on my other stories but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone!**

**As usual i only own my OC Sovia and i hope you enjoy it :D**

The day began clear with the morning frost. The thrushes chirped their morning song and the early noises of the market place could clearly be heard even from such a distance as the Realm of Thror King under-the-mountains was.

The city of men and the Home of the Dwarves dwelt together in a harmonious existence, dealing trade when the need arose and forging new friendships along the way. Yes it was indeed a grand existence.

However on this fateful morning, the sun had arisen with a red dawn. The color of blood stretched gloriously from the tip of the mountain peak, to the battlements of the city. Clouds, brushed with wind drifted across the violent sky, adding their own hues of purple and fluffy textures to form random images in its depths.

The Dwarves went on with their everyday lives, but the people were fearful. They, who did not live holed up under the mountain for long periods of time, had learnt that a morning such this could be counted as a bad omen.

But as the day went on, the sky cleared to a crystal blue, and the worries of Men, appeased. The Dwarves did as they always did in this time of peace, dug deeper into the mountain, and forged new, unique, beauties to adorn the great halls devoted solely to the mystical treasure at its heart.

It was this treasure, many had hinted, that had driven the current King, Thror, into a madness so complete that he would wander the halls for days without either food or drink before briefly returning to the real world only to brag to all about the richness and wealth his treasure bought him.

This poisonous relationship with his gold, spread through all the land, travelling from the ear of one traveller to the next, until word even reached the realm of Dragons.

Smaug the Terrible, who was not so terrible at the time, was resting with his tail curled around his body at the mouth of a cave. His keen eyes, nearly orb like in appearance, sharpened when he caught sight of a lone human, wandering through his territory.

He raised himself on his haunches, and like a cat eyeing a mouse, gave the man barely pause to turn before he pounced. His claw caged the man, but it was his weight that forced the man to the ground. His body bent in half at an awkward angle and the man screamed. Not that Smaug blamed him, it _did_ look uncomfortable.

Smaug couldn't tell much of the man except for the tear-filled eyes and the bright red of his hair. For this reason, for his hair was the same color of his own shimmering hide and dragons were very vain creatures that he spoke to the man in a grumble.

The man being so close to the dragon could feel the tremors of his voice through the ground.

"Tell me something interesting and I will make your passing as _tranquil_ as I can"

The man trembled and cried. The scent of urine filled the air. Smaug could only feel disgust and made a mental reminder to bathe his claws later.

The Dragon, for they were not known for their patience, let out a roar of "Times up" before opening his mouth to let out a small jet of flame. Not enough to kill him, but enough to ensure that the blood in the mans broken body began to boil. The man screamed again, and his burnt fingers began groping uselessly against the ground in an attempt to escape. Smaug removed his claws and watched in amusement as the man tried to escape.

However his wounds were to great and he slumped in exhaustion, only able to whimper as the ground trembled with the heavy footfalls of the male.

He choked out before the dragon could do any more to him, his words no more than an intelligible mumble.

Smaug could only make out four words. "Thror….Mountain….Gold….Peace"

That was enough for him and he stabbed the man through the chest with one claw before grabbing the body and taking it up into his cave. He landed at the edge and snaked his head back inside, his mind already turning, despite the early hour, a plan about his head.

His gaze shone with an emotion not often seen in a Dragons eyes. His mate lay curled up in the furthest corner of the cave.

Female dragons were rare among their kind, a trait they shared with the dwarves. But this one was a prize to behold. Smaller than he, but built with the slender body and wings graced for speed, Sovia was elegance personified. She complemented him perfectly, gentle, but no less vicious when roused. She also shared his love of conversation, sleeping and puzzles.

IN the light, her scales glimmered such a blue that they put the sky to shame. But here in the dark he could barely make out the shape of her form.

Her slender neck uncurled from around her body slightly as she slept, her tail twitched in a rhythmic motion and was draped over several rocks. HE leaned forward, trying not to wake her harshly from his hot breath, but to bunt her as gently as he could with his wedge shaped head.

Murmuring in their own language he nuzzled her neck until she finally began to wake.

Her eyes popped open and blinked serenely at him.

He sat back on his haunches and offered her the lump of meat that used to be the human. She nipped it delicately from his talons, still to sleepy to do much other than chew leisurely. She paused as she registered the taste.

"So early in the morning and having fun already?" Where his voice rumbled, hers seemed to float on the air.

He chuckled and lay down beside her. His bulk blocking the exit to any intruders and his head, close enough to just brush hers.

"I learned an interesting piece of news while I fetched you breakfast"

"Hmmmm?" She swallowed and settled down on her forelegs and closed her eyes while her tail twitched sporadically. She was listening.

"A King has a hoard of gold,"

She laughed and steam blew out her nostrils "Kings always have gold but never enough to interest us" She tapped a talon.

"This is no ordinary king. This is a Dwarven King"

Her head perked up slightly and she looked at him in confusion. "Dwarves have strongholds and many warriors to guard their hoards"

He sighed and a slight flame leaked out of his mouth. She giggled at its appearance and bunted his jaw with the top of her head in affection.

"This King lives in a time of peace"

Her eyes widened fully now and she raised herself up until her eyes were level with his. "Peace means…"

"Easy Pickings" He finished for her. Placing a claw over his own he continued "Here's my idea my sweet. The Dwarves will be unprepared for the attack and if I remember correctly, there is a small city not far from them that will send them aid if we arrived. So I propose we destroy the village…"

She interrupted him. "My dear, I do not wish to end the life of young, If we are to raise our own that is, and I would not feel right in taking away someone's young away from them"

"Very well, fear not, I will only disable the men and leave the weak free"

She settled again and he continued.

"The King will not wish to leave his hoard, so will act stubborn as dwarves do, and refuse to order a retreat, making it easier for me to pick off the ones inside. I will let the survivors who make it outside go free" He looked at her more intently "I do not wish for you to fight so you will hide somewhere nearby and I will call for you when all is ready for you"

Female dragons, whilst aggressive in protecting their brood, did not have the same thickness of armor that the males had. As a mated female with no brood yet to speak of, Sovia was a Passive dragon and did not actively seek out battles like her mate Smaug was suggesting. Unlike Smaug, who had a gold encrusted belly to protect his vulnerable underbelly, she was quite vulnerable in comparison. She couldn't even breathe flame but could only let out a hot gush of steam.

Her only means of defense were her talons and poisonous bite.

So a new den ensured both her safety and that of their future young from threats such as Men (who had this stupid idea that to kill a dragon ensured glory), rogue dwarves (lusted after their gold), Elves (who had an insane notion that dragons were out to destroy their trees, as if) and other dragons.

So this idea was appealing despite her sadness at the impending loss of life to the current inhabitants, but she managed to muster a smile for her mate who visibly preened under her gaze.

To stoke his ego even further she said, "You got all this information out of something barely a mouthful and you've already made a plan?" She looked at him in appreciation "I knew I had chosen well"

Smaug's only answer was to nuzzle her gently before reluctantly departing to hunt for their journey.

Sovia just stared out after him, feeling the puddle of blood from the humans body oozing under her talons. She regretted his death, but it would've been a waste if she'd refused to eat his already cooling body, not to mention hurt her mate's feelings. She huffed. He was overly protective lately, ever since he'd discovered that she was laying. This stage of the eggs incubation was delicate, and the eggs would have to stay within the warmth of her body until their outer shells had started to develop. This would take 30 years. 30 years of an overprotective male. 30 years of not being able to touch the sky or breathe in the fresh air she could just now barely feel licking her face. Despite the fact that dragons live for eons, it still was an extraordinary time to wait. Which is why there were so few dragons and even fewer willing females.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her mate; he was aggressive and strong and possessed a keen intelligence that the others who had vied for her attentions had simply not possessed. But contrary to common belief, He was also gentle with her. They both cared deeply for each other.

She just wished she could leave for a few minutes to stretch her stiff muscles. But she couldn't. It was a risk to both her and her unborn young to even consider flying to the dwarven stronghold. But if they stayed where they were, they would surely run out of food to hunt and the cave was already too small for them both.

Yes, they had to leave. There was really no choice. She had to rest in preparation to gather her strength. Her glittering eyes slowly blinked themselves to a close.

**Please leave a review before you hit the back button ;) much appreciated.**


	2. Flight Patterns

**Hello again! hope you've had a good day everybody because i've been in a writing frame of mind. So there will be two chapters updated tonight :D YAY**

**Here it is, this is definately a filler because nothing really happens except a little boredom episode from Sovia. Also i apologise for any mistakes of the transformers nature ****amongst this one and the next. Instead of eyes i keep typing optics! lol there may be a few terms scattered here and there and just notify me if you spot any k? i think i got them all but you never know...NAyway on with the story! :D**

It had been many weeks since Sovia and Smaug had departed in search of their new home. Smaug, _sort of _knew where he was going. IN other words, he had to stop several times and scare the information out of random travellers while Sovia hovered out of sight in the sky.

He flew just underneath her as a security measure if her wings grew tired. Because most of her heat was centered on her middle, her nerve endings were numb and there was a risk of not realizing her wings were tired until they crumpled underneath her.

This hadn't happened yet and they had been flying for several weeks already with only a few breaks in between. Smaug himself made sure he hunted frequently, keeping her in his line of sight as she circled above him. He needed his strength for the upcoming battle.

Sovia, made do with the birds that flew her way, snapping out at them when they flew too close, unable to see her until they could feel the heat from her scales because of the color of her hide.

She was content but Smaug was a much bigger dragon so was almost always dropping down. He always bought some left overs for her.

Time seemed to stretch until days that were mere hours for a dragon, seemed like eons. In other words, Sovia was bored.

Correction. Dead bored.

To pass the time she counted the clouds and played the searching-game with Smaug. They gave up after they only things they could spot were trees which they had just invented different words for saying it.

So now she just flew in a slightly straight line.

Until she got an idea to entertain herself. She got a wonderful, awful idea. She started to sway from side to side until she was drifting away from Smaug and then just _vanished_. She drifted up until she was concealed by cloud, but still able to see and just entertained herself by watching Smaug's reaction.

It took him a while, which was a little disappointing since if she had actually fallen she would be dead. But when he finally noticed, she had to give him credit for his quickness of action. He immediately ducked down beneath the cloud layer and flew towards where they had just flown and scanned the ground. Blasting layers of trees out of his way and setting fire to those that wouldn't budge.

When he realized her crumpled body was nowhere to be found, his worry was quickly filled with fury as he raised his head. He pretty much found her immediately after that and zoomed up to nip her harshly on the side of her neck.

She buffeted her wings at him. Squawking in irritation. They snapped at each other and Smaug released a small tongue of flame. Her hide protected her from it but that didn't stop her from thwacking him sharply with her tail. He bit again at her neck, holding her in his jaws until she stopped her thrashing and was still.

He released her slowly, talons still latched onto her shoulders to keep her flying before directing them into a descent until they landed in the middle of an aging forest. He set her down and then turned his back on her, lying down with a heavy thump and a sigh.

It was quiet and she sat there awkwardly, scratching her talons into the ground. She probably had gone a little overboard with curing her boredom. And she had hurt him in the worst way possible.

Sitting on her haunches she lifted her wings to make her shadow seem bigger just to have something to do in her awkwardness. She could look after herself and maybe this trick had been a way to prove to him that he didn't need to keep her under lock and key as the humans say. She understood why he did, but that didn't make it easier to know _why._

Okay her thoughts weren't making any sense at all, even to her. She shook her head from side to side in irritation. Must be the hormones.

She still had to mend the rift now between them. She knew he wasn't asleep just pretending like a youngling would.

Hesitantly she crept forward, body close to the ground, until the tip of her nose just brushed against his wing joint. Gaining more confidence when he only stiffened and didn't move away, she moved close until her head hung over his side to stare at him.

His eyes were closed, but she could still see the glow of them moving underneath the horned eyelids. Small puffs of steam sifted out of his nostrils in a regular pattern. He was a horrible actor.

She snorted and poked him with one of her talons on the other side. His eyes snapped open.

"I am tired Sovia, I wish to sleep in peace" he growled.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry"

"Apology accepted" he grunted. No ounce of forgiveness in his tone at all.

Hmmmm. Sovia frowned; obviously she needed to heal his pride as well. She huffed internally, _males_, she thought to herself_ a completely different breed_.

She pressed her body against his more comfortably and draped a wing over him like a blanket.

"I know it was a horrible trick…"

"HORRIBLE TRICK! SHE SAYS!" he sprung up away from her, his spinal ridge clipping her jaw in his haste and he spun to face her, unadulterated rage coating every inch of his body.

He shoved his head in her face "I thought you had fallen" spoken softly.

She nuzzled his head. He didn't move away. "I'm sorry and I appreciate how fast you reacted," she repeated. "The forest never stood a chance" Why not earn some brownie points?

"I know" his jaws curled up into a smirk "But warn me next time you feel bored so I can prepare for heart failure"

She laughed back at him quietly and curled up on her side.

"I promise"

He draped his neck over hers and they finally slept.

**Hes definately more like a cat than a dragon. i might have to change him a little. **

**Anyway leave a review before you click the back button. Its not hard and it really makes my day :D**


	3. The Taking

The day they finally arrived at the Dwarven stronghold dawned with a brilliant sunrise, filled with violent hews of red, purple and orange. The mountain had the first layers of snow capping its peak and the great gates glittered from the minerals embedded in its surface.

The City of Men was still dark from the shadow of the mountain but Sovia could still make out small watch fires still burning from the previous night. She landed swiftly and didn't fuss as Smaug ushered her under a ledge on the hillside. She would have a great view of his daring deeds as he put it. She still wasn't sure if he was only teasing or actually wanted her to watch.

He had caught her a deer, an animal she had never had before, and left her happily munching on its hindquarters (the best part of any carcass) before bumping her head with his and flying off.

She watched him circle above the city of men before coming in it from the direction of the sun. She could only imagine how the people there must see it. It would appear as if the sun was shooting its hell fire at them before true horror set in as the shadow of her mate whipped around the city to attack it at a new angle.

She could hear the screams already. The females pitch was painful even from here. She could only imagine how her mate was faring.

Not well apparently. Males had better hearing than females, so she was unsurprised when he accidently-on-purpose crashed into the sidewall. She watched the trail of dust and a line of buildings disappear with slight amusement.

When his head popped up and looked around comically, she had to bite back a laugh in order to keep her presence hidden. She noticed he was sort of wobbly on his feet before he took off again to set more of the city on fire. The heat was gently carried by the wind to set the surrounding trees alight. Farms had already suffered damage from falling buildings and the animals were running around in fright.

The humans were not faring well and many tried to pour out of the now damaged gates. When they were only met with another wall of fire from the trees, they dashed back inside to meet her mate's jaws.

It was _difficult_ for her to watch. While she appreciated her mate's display of strength and power, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the pathetically weak creatures, screaming and running around in terror, or succumbing to an inevitable death.

She was startled by something running down her face and lifted a talon to see what it was. _A tear_, of all things. How interesting.

The entire city was ablaze before Smaug saw fit to leave the remaining humans to their fate. His swooped above the cloud layer, but the sun behind him cast a formidable looking shadow across the landscape, marking the path to where his final destination would be.

The war horn of the Dwarves sounded from deep within the mountain and Sovia watched, her heart in her throat, as arrows were shot at him. Several lodged in his wings, which bought him down, but his tough hide prevented them from hitting anything vital.

Sovia narrowed her eyes in concentration. He was moving further away and she couldn't see everything that was going on. She decided to move closer to see better, after all, he wanted to impress her in order to stoke his own ego didn't he?

She crept forward silently, taking special care to not lodge any rocks and alert anybody. Her silence was rewarded for she reached a new vantage point without any difficulty and made sure she was covered by the foliage.

Her mate was now inside the great doors after smashing them open before the Dwarves could fully close them. He was favoring his front left leg, which meant the fool had broken it in his haste. Great.

He stomped through the corridors until only the tip of his tail was visible to her from this distance until it disappeared entirely.

SMAUGS POV

Darn it, Darn it, Darn it, ow, ow ow, Smaug cursed internally as he snarled through the pain of his paw. Definitely some bones were broken. Maybe he shouldn't have punched the door.

He reared up nearly absent mindedly to smash down a group of archers who screamed on their way to death. He winced, why did they have to scream? It wasn't as if he was making their torment slow, the opposite actually. He was on a strict time schedule to get Sovia inside.

He eventually made his way through the seemingly never-ending flow of armored Dwarves, into what simply had to be the legendary treasury.

Smaug's eyes glinted at the almost unbelievable wealth. He thought King Thror a fool to have boasted about this, but he thought to himself, he actually had good reason.

Piles upon piles as high as the cavernous ceiling, of gold coins with several flecks of silver meshed in spots. Grandly carved chairs, too small for him he thought, but maybe Sovia could find use for them she was that small, shields, swords and intricately designed works of art. It all glittered and appeared to have an inner glow similar to dragons. He was instantly transfixed by his prize but was smacked back to reality when he caught sight of several more Dwarves scuttling around his feet, headed by an old one with several necklaces and crowns on his head. Smaug had to stop himself from laughing, these dwarves had already lost their home and some their lives, he wouldn't make them feel worse by laughing at their King, for he obviously was. Although his home and hoard were now obviously lost, he wasn't giving up. Blame the legendary stubbornness of Dwarves if you will but Smaug knew better. He could still see the sickness plaguing the old ones mind. His expressive eyes conveyed only the desire to stay with his hoard, to die if need be.

Well, Smaug thought, I'll oblige him.

Just as his jaws opened to release a flame, his aim was knocked off from the collision received from another Dwarf, this one definitely younger.

His flame still incinerated the king's guard or at the very least left them burns from the intense heat. The Dwarf that had saved the King was ushering him forcibly away from the Hoard and Smaug's fire. The dragon smiled cruelly but let them go.

With the King removed, the hope for the remaining Dwarves diminished and the threat level was considerably lower. The worst it was over and it was now safe enough to call Sovia.

He let a trumpeting call out from deep inside his chest. It boomed around the caverns.

SOVIA POV

She heard him but before she could move several rocks sliding down from above startled her. She remained very still, head tilted up to focus on the disturbance.

An _army_ of Elves lined the top of the hill. For they were obviously elves for their beauty shone radiantly from the frame of the sun. _Why?! _She thought in a panic, noticing they were armored from head to toe, blades catching the light menacingly.

She distinctly heard a call of _help us!_ From below, but didn't dare twitch to identify the noise. The regal looking elf seemed to hesitate. _Move! Turn away _she silently begged.

The elf seemed to make up his mind and his gaze hardened. He turned away from the fleeing, desolate people, and his army followed. The threat was all show.

Sovia felt pain and disbelief on behalf of the person who had begged for their assistance despite the fact that Erebor as they knew it had fallen. The betrayal they must feel, she shuddered, she couldn't even imagine, poor things.

She heard another trumpeting boom from her mate, this time laced with worry and she released her own thin cry to placate him, and noted with little satisfaction that the surviving people froze and looked in her direction in horror.

She made her way down the hillside and, mindful of the closeness of the trees, opted to walk rather than fly despite the fact that several of the Dwarves were armed.

She walked quickly, her carrying weight made her almost waddle across the landscape. She was mindful of this and tried not to bang into anything. She failed several times and consequently there were a few more trees standing upright.

THORIN POV

The elves had betrayed us, despite everything they had done to maintain a working relationship, despite their differences, despite everything. They had betrayed him. He still carried his grandfather over his shoulder, the feeble old man still clawing in the direction of Erebor. Why couldn't he give it a rest? Thorin thought tiredly

He couldn't feel anything. Nothing at all as he watched everything burn around him and the stragglers struggle their way across the landscape. Everything was gone. He couldn't even begin to count the number of dead that far outweighed the number of survivors.

He felt a sense of dread curl deep inside his heart when he heard another trumpeting racket sound from the beast that had invaded his halls. He tensed himself into a run when the call sounded closer to the doors, meaning the beast was meaning to come outdoors again. It sounded as if it was signaling someone.

His heart sank when another call sounded, this one higher and gentler than the beasts. He glanced in its general direction and just about dropped his grandfather into the dirt.

There was _another_.

This one was sky blue and considerably smaller than the first beast. It was slender aside from a bulge around its hips. _Oh Valar_ the creatures were mates and they expected _offspring_. He wordlessly gave his grandfather to a group of men that had surrounded them. They to had noticed the obviously female dragon.

The dragon was a lot slower than her mate and eyed them warily as she got closer to the gates.

Thorin couldn't take it any longer and charged at her. NO weapon, shield or anything, just mad desires to cause the invader the same pain he and his people were going through. Loss.

The dragoness' eyes widened in fright and she lay close to the ground with her talons stretched out in front of her. He picked up a rogue branch that burned on its end and swiped it at her.

She reared up onto her hind legs and swatted at him with her claws. They caught him on his side, just grazing his skin, and sending him flying a short distance away. He quickly regained his feet and picked up his branch again. They circled each other, her eyes showing nothing but fear as she stared into his own.

She roared at him and the sound caught him off-guard at such a close range. It hurt, especially after the sensitivity her mates bellow had caused. His ears were effectively ringing like church bells.

So focused was he on her eyes that he didn't notice her tail slither around his leg until he was upside down, dangling in front of her. Her eyes were huge, closer up, probably the same size as his head. It showed how big the beast that she seemed small in comparison.

All he could do was hang there as she looked at him. A talon reached up and touched the circlet that still lay of his brow and he flinched. It sounded a clink against the metal and he shuddered as her eyes narrowed.

"Youngling Prince" She said softly. Thorin was startled she could speak. Her voice was deep but there was a strange note to it. Could it be pain? No surely not.

The universe just loved proving him wrong when a single tear dripped down her scaled face.

Some men had roused and made there way to attack her but Thorin waved his hand at them in a cutting gesture and they halted. She regarded them all sadly, "You've all suffered enough, you will not receive harm from me" she gently righted Thorin on his own too feet. He ignored the rushing of blood to his head and slightly woozy footing.

Her head snapped towards Erebor when another call sounded from within Erebor and let loose another. She lowered her head till it was level with his, bunted his chest gently before straightening.

She started to walk away from them but stopped. She turned her head back to face them and said " I'm sorry " before she too disappeared into the depths of Erebor and the gates shut behind her.

Thorin could only stand there and stare in stupefied awe. She could've killed him but she had just walked away. His sentiments were voiced by the people surrounding him.

He ignored everyone's demands on his health. He was fine obviously considering everything that had happened before 11 in the morning. The dragoness and her actions stayed with him though. Why was the dominant thought in his head but he pushed it aside for the time being. They had more important things to do.

He looked around the group of survivors. "We must move" and they did.

SOVIAS POV

Why did I let him go?! He was of the line of Durin! Smaug would've killed him no hesitation. But she had hesitated. He looked furious and so broken at the same time that she couldn't bring herself to cause anymore suffering. So she just walked away despite the fact that many observers may have attacked her. She looked back briefly before going inside her new home, the victory not as powerful as she had originally anticipated.

She noted absentmindedly the beautiful architecture and high vaulted ceilings before her gaze rested on her mate who was awaiting her close to the entrance. He looked worriedly at her and moved closer to her. He licked delicately at a gash on her side she hadn't been aware of. Exhaustion flooded her suddenly. She laughed at her body; it wasn't as if she had done anything today. Stupid hormones.

He supported her, hard as it was on three legs, into what could only be described as the halls of wealth. Mountains upon mountains of gold. She could only stare until Smaug nudged her onwards. He led her over to a bed of coins. The cool metal soon heated to the warmth of her body as she lay down on its surface. It was comfortable, the coins shifting with a clinking sound as she shifted, the coins positions molding to her body and she sighed in contentment. He nuzzled her gently, worriedly, and returned to assessing her wound.

She knew it wasn't bad, it just _stung_. Her thoughts focused again on her mate's injured leg and she scolded half-heartedly "You punched the door"

He chuckled a little and pretended to look abashed "I've already snapped the bone together, but you can treat it later my sweet. You need to rest and I have to remain on guard. I think I got them all, but you can never be too sure"

"Smaug" she mumbled sleepily, her optics already starting to close "Don't kill them, they've suffered enough"

He could only look at her in surprise but he agreed before leaving.

She fell asleep soon afterwards; lulled by a sense of security and safety she hadn't felt since she was still a hatchling with her own mother and father.

Images of the Princeling haunted her dreams, backed by remembered screams and the roar of fire as cities fell and foes were crushed. Of betrayal and pain. It was too much and subconsciously she promised herself, no one in these lands, now hers besides Smaug, would ever feel that way because of something she or her mate did.

It was a promise she carried back into consciousness.

**So thats all from me for today. I have to get up early tomorow so am gonna go to bed. Next chapter you can expect before Tuesday so who knows? maybe the muse will strike me again and another batch of chapters maybe up and ready for ya to read. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and hopefully you'll leave areview for lil' old me? the buttons down there. :D**


	4. Meeting

**hello everyone! see i told ya you'd be getting a chapter before wednesday!**

Sovia awoke with her head upside down with her jaws wide open and a thick line of sleep-drool. An extremely attractive look if she did say so herself.

Smaug was in a similar position; only he was biting his tail instead so there was no drool for him. She snorted in laughter, a small plume of steam erupting from her nostrils and drifting up to disappear into the darkness above the piles of treasure.

That was the best sleep she had had in the longest of years, the quiet and dark of the cave was the perfect setting.

Obviously Smaug wasn't going to awaken just yet as he was probably still recovering from his late night excursions in conquering the Dwarves. Since he wouldn't have fallen asleep unless it was safe enough to do so, She decided to go for a walk around her new home to explore.

The caverns were vast and many, the properties of the stone must've been thick and deep to have caused the Dwarves to carve out such a huge section for their home. The space was empty now, cleared of what must've been a popular meeting spot. This was apparent for the scuffmarks on the floor and the worn appearance of the stone.

She wandered through, her inner flame burning away the darkness in a deep blue glow from her middle. Her footsteps echoed endlessly. There was nothing left of the Dwarven city of Erebor now except for its hollowed out shell.

However the universe had decided to prove her wrong today despite the early hour and she finally came across the end of the cavernous hallways and discovered what had to be the Homes of the Dwarves. Layers upon layers of dwelling where visibly, yet she could still see small alleyways cut into the stone in between the houses, no doubt leading to more dwellings. They were simple in design, square with a few rough windows cut out of it. However the true beauty of these was established to Sovia by the remaining evidence of tattered cloth floating stiffly in the doors and windows.

Sovia's grand imagination supplied for her that it must have originally looked like the fluttering's of butterflies as they caught the breeze all the way from the grand doors. It invoked strange feelings in her. Regret for not having seen it and self-disgust as she thought of how stupid she was acting over these dwarves. This was _her _home now.

Her musings were interrupted by a skittering noise, which disturbed some small stones. The clattering caused a small avalanche, which coated her head in dust. She coughed and spluttered as she tried to clear out her lungs of the fine particles.

She peered up to where the disturbance had come from and spotted a small glow, and if she concentrated, heard the small murmur of voices emanating from one of the dwellings.

She slowly lifted her claws to grasp onto the nearest level and began to climb. As she got closer she could hear the voices becoming clearer.

"Do ye' think it heard us'?"

"No, Ori, I'm sure if ye speak a lil' louder ye'll be able to notify the beast to our presence"

"If ye both just shut ye trap …."

The voices were interrupted by her head poking over the street level to peer with one huge eye through the window.

For a while both parties looked at each other. The trio of dwarves could feel their heartbeats accelerating rapidly whilst Sovia could only blink at them serenely. A dwarf broke the moment with an extravagant hairstyle brandishing what appeared to be a frying pan at her face. She reared her head back just out of reach of him.

The youngest, a youngling still by the looks of him, just curled up into a ball whilst the oldest stood guard over him, also brandishing his own frying pan.

"BACK _back_ you foul creature, one more step and I'll…."

"You'll what?" asked Sovia with real curiosity.

"Well umm…. I don't know…yet, but don't think I won't think of it yet beast"

Sovia snorted at the Dwarfs confounding logic and a burst of steam erupted again from her nostrils. They screamed and when the smoke evaporated into nothingness, showed three dwarves, heads down, thumbs up, quaking on the ground. When they realized they weren't dead they congratulated each other and slapped each other on the backs. When they noticed her again they went straight back to quaking.

"Did you three just scream like little females?" Sovia asked with good humor before sobering "You are males are you not?"

"Wait you're a girl?"

"Ye can talk!"

"Madam I assure ye that despite the fact that women also have beards, we are indeed males"

"You're not going to incinerate us?" added the youngest one hopefully.

She snorted again but held the steam of her nostrils in check this time. "Of course not, if I was, I would've done it before you even noticed I had climbed up here, I just wanted to talk"

"Talk why?" asked the oldest one, stroking his grey beard thoughtfully.

"Because I am also a creature of intelligence who craves conversation" She shifted so her claws were more securely fastened to the wall " Its what separate us from the animals believe it or not"

"But you're a beass…"

"Call me that again and I will eat you" She interrupted "My name is Sovia, Daughter of the dragon of Fangorn"

"Names have power miss, should you give your out so freely?" inquired the wacky hair styled one.

"A given name is also an expression of goodwill and trust. I would hardly bother to learn your names if you were to be killed now would I"

They nodded in agreement. An awkward silence fell upon the group.

Sovia cleared her throat. She still was having difficulty deciding on why she had bothered to speak to them. They smelled foul and were now deemed pests by her mate that had to be eradicated for their health, similar to a cockroach to a human settlement.

She broke the silence by stating, "So, you live in Erebor"

The group just stared at her and she shifted uncomfortably. "Um, madam, used to live in Erebor would be the word." The old one settled on hi haunches.

"Yeah cuz ye and ye crazy dragon boyfriend kinda fried us out of our place" The crazy one deadpanned. Crazy hair scratched his chest before shifting to his armpits. Again attractive.

"Oh yeah, right I forgot" then she added "Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I swear not to kill you" She added with a smile which to them looked like she was baring her teeth at them.

The young one spoke up "Yeah well that's not gonna help us any is it, once your _boyfriend" _he sneered the word "wakes up to burn us. We a re the only ones left in the whole of Erebor. We have no food, no real shelter and soon, we shall run out of air if we don't burn up first!"

His outcry was met again by that awkward silence. She pondered his words before reaching a decision.

"Look, if Smaug found out I was helping you he'll have my hide, mate or not, so you'll have to be real quiet ok"

"What do ye mean lass?"

"I mean, I'm going to climb down here and you three are going to climb onto my back alright"

"Uhh, your back is awful close to your teeth"

"Young one, my teeth are the least of your worries if my mate catches you"

The dwarves huddled together for a long discussion. The oldest put his frying pan down finally and walked closer to her hesitantly, as if she would snap her jaws at him without any warning and he had to remain on guard.

She stayed perfectly still as his hands gently touched her maw, the appendage shaking slightly in his fear.

Slowly, she removed her head form the doorway and climbed down. She sank onto her haunches to make it easier for them to clamber aboard,

She forgot to take into account that dwarves legs were much shorter than hers, not that she'd say it aloud of course, and they had to deal with waling down the streets until they got to the stairs before finally reaching her back. She stuck out her foreleg to help them better and they all struggled to get comfortably on her ridged spine, holding tightly onto her spines.

"Now we will have to walk past my mate so press yourself low when you see his glow"

She felt them nod against her back and she began to walk slowly towards the doors.

What the _hell_ am I doing? She thought to herself.

**okay so a lot shorter than the others, but hey its a chapter!**

**So i hope you liked it and leave a review before you hit that back button ;)**


	5. Saving

The darkness was unrelenting outside the small sphere of her own inner light. Nori, Dori and Ori, for that were their names, had told her that the place they were currently walking in had once been filled with these tiny lights on the ceiling that they had dubbed 'fairy lights'. These lights were actually living organisms that habituated up there because of the warmth and relative quiet. When they were spawned they were given to their younglings as pets until they were old enough to join their brethren.

This, a light in the dark, fascinated Sovia? And a living one at that she had exclaimed. It must've been amazing to see….

The Dwarves were quiet now, the youngest having fallen asleep. Sovia herself was feeling a little bit tired so decided to stop and rest for a minute. She lowered herself onto the ground, bade them get off and hide themselves against her side should her mate come and investigate her absence. She would hide them by lowering her wing. It would take them another day at least to reach the gate at this rate.

Just before she fell asleep, she was prodded back into consciousness by one of the dwarves.

"Can't ye turn off that glowy thingy of yers Sovia? Its like sleepin' in a lighthouse"

She chuckled lightly mind-full of the younger one still sleeping if one were to judge by the snoring. "I can't"

"What de ye mean ye bloody can't, yer a dragon ain't ye?" He grumbled.

"Yes I am, can't you tell?" she lifted her wing to show her head to him and shot him a toothy grin before lowering the appendage again. "But I actually can't. If I turn it off, it means I am dead"

"Oh"

"If it makes you feel and better Master Dwarf"… She shifted slightly on the gravelly ground "It dims when I'm asleep"

He grunted in reply and she felt him turning slightly before his breathing became easier and regular.

Ironically, now she couldn't get to sleep. Damn Dwarves and their insistent chatter. She grumbled to herself and shifted again so the dwarves were tucked more securely to her side. She yawned but her eyes would still not close.

She settled her head on her forelegs and not for the first time that week, wondered at what she was doing. These were not her friends; dragons didn't have friends, only mates and enemies. It was an extremely lonely existence but that did not change facts. She was a dragon and the dwarves were not her friends. She had taken their home, and was indirectly responsible for the deaths of their kin and no doubt if these dwarfs possessed the moral and the weaponry, she would be dead long before her mate could reach her. She couldn't blame them. She was the only thing standing between them and certain death. The gate felt so far away…

She would help them, she didn't know why but she amounted it to the eons of boredom and doing completely what everyone else around her had always expected her to do.

Yes, that must be it. That or the hormones were starting to affect her sentiments. Yes that was more likely.

Finally her thoughts cleared from her head and she felt her eyelids start to close.

An insistent prodding from one of the Dwarves again awaked her and she snarled at them. She opened her eyes to see her mate nuzzling her cheek insistently. He leaned back at her to stare at her.

"Why did you leave the nest?"

"Nest?" mumbled a dwarf, which she disguised with a snort and a subtle movement of her back left talon that nudged the dwarf sharply.

"I needed to walk around, my limbs were extremely stiff. Besides, " she nudged his side "I needed to see my new home for myself"

"You should have woken me"

"You were tired Smaug" she emphasized "No scratch that, _exhausted_ and I knew you would never have gone to sleep without making sure it was safe"

"There are still dwarves in here, I can smell them and sense their hearts still beating"

"That is slightly disturbing Smaug"

"You love it" He nuzzled her head again before walking to her side and sniffing her middle. "You need to get back to the nest. The young ones are sapping your strength, their smell is getting stronger"

Sovia highly doubted that but didn't dare speak for fear for the dwarves who were quaking at her side. The smelly dwarves she hoped her young ones didn't smell like.

"Actually Smaug, I'm quite comfortable here"

He shifted his shoulder under hers to help her up but she shifted slightly to the left. He whipped his head around to hers.

"Sovia sweeting, you need rest" he growled

"Smaug I am fine here"

"Then I'll stay with you for the time being"

"No! I mean…" when he just stared at her "I mean, I'm actually really hungry Smaug" She hinted.

He wasn't fooled but obliged her for her desire for privacy "At least let me help you to the nest…"

"I told you Smaug, I'm fine HERE!" she growled at him forcefully.

He sighed but relented. "Are you sure you'll be alright here"

"Yes" she said exasperated but bumped her head against his to push him away gently.

Smaug just laughed at her and danced outside her reach before leaving. She waited until his light disappeared before lifting her wing to let out the dwarves.

They fell out, panting and sweating.

The crazy haired one Nori, Dori or Ori, she still couldn't tell which name belonged to whom, puffed out "Man its like a furnace in there, don't tell me lass that ye never installed any cooler in there"

The older one whacked him on the head. "Ye nitwit she's a flaming dragon for Valars sake"

She watched them warily before cautiously turning around to where her mate had gone.

The younger one dodged his arguing siblings and stood next to her.

"I hate doing that to him" she sighed.

He cautiously put his hand on her neck. "What for?"

She swung her head around " I exploited a weakness and pushed him away"

"That's a bad thing to do to a smelly dragon err… no offense" he deadpanned

She chuckled "You don't smell so good yourself Master Dwarf, in fact, you all are in sore need of a bath and some sweet smells" she sniffed "Make that a horse cart load of sweet smells"

The young dwarf ignored his brothers indignant "HEY"'s before continuing.

"I wouldn't worry Miss Sovia, he seems to care about you if all the nudging and bumping he was doing was anything. He was really worried when he saw you, we heard him hissing and spitting like some sort of cat until you woke up. Besides the lady dwarves love the sweet smell of dwarf"

"Strangely enough I find it difficult to see my mate as a cat and your females finding rotting dwarf in any way attractive, but we best start moving, he doesn't take long to hunt"

They all agreed and clambered up to begin the journey.

Sovia moved as fast as her legs would carry her, who wasn't very fast but soon the odd group arrived at the door where they encountered another problem.

It was sealed shut.

Sovia quickly looked around. Her mate had to leave some way. She lifted her head to sniff the air and followed the trail. It took some time but eventually she found what looked to be battlements, or what was left of them before her mates immense bulk had made another door outside. Subtle, Smaug, subtle.

Slowly she made her way up the sidewall, till she could see the sky and feel the fresh air teasing her scales.

She spread her wings and glided down to the base of the mountain, ignoring the startles, manly shrieks of the dwarves on her back.

She crouched down to let them off. One of them kissed the ground. She smiled. "It wasn't that bad, I just drifted down, there was actually no flying involved little earth creatures"

"Aye lass, but as ye say we are earth creatures…. I feel sick"

Sovia nimbly stepped to the side to avoid the retching Dwarf.

The young one was the only one who was completely unaffected by the short, flight, if you could call it that. "Thank you Lady Dragon" he bowed low before hoisting his brothers up under the arms and forcing them to run, not very fast, in the direction their brethren had journeyed several days before.

She watched them go, a happy feeling growing in her heart, before she turned and jumped back inside to return to the nest.


	6. Suffering

35 years later….

She rolled over on the pile of gold, bringing her tail up to wrap around the small clutch of eggs by her side. She had been so happy to be a mother and had brooded over her eggs with a fondness that had opened her up for teasing from Smaug. He himself though was puffed up, full of pride and affection for the little eggs. They were never left alone for longer than a few minutes. Mottled colors swirled across the soft surface of the eggs. Colors ranging from the warm colors of red, orange and green. No blues of her own coloring were there but she loved them all anyway. She absolutely adored the day that the eggs had first begun communicating with their parents. Small clicks and whistles were the only sounds the young inside could make out, but it was so cute that she mimicked them with what Smaug called Hatcher–talk.

However one morning, Smaug was out hunting and Sovia herself was drinking from a small river that ran through the center of the mountain. It was the first time she had left the eggs without Smaug there, so she was hurrying.

She was first alerted to an unknown presence by the change of airflow in the cavern. The intruders had obviously not washed and their smell was so distinctive that she had rushed to the nest at breakneck speed in time to witness them stabbing the sides their spears to crack open the eggs. Small forms slid out of the sides and emitted a weak cry.

Sovia had sprung into action to protect her young. Making sure she had her babies between her legs so she could defend them. She had killed three of them, crushing their bodies with her jaws, shaking them around before throwing them away and swatting away the others who tried to help them with her talons, catching them in the chests and killing them instantly. A sharp pain however, stabbed into the soft flesh of her leg. She had let out a scream of pain, which cause the men to clutch at their ears in agony.

Smaug had been at the entranceway after discovering unfamiliar tracks outside the lair. When he heard her cries of agony and grief, his heart had chilled and he had rushed inside. He crushed the ones surrounding her while the rest cut their losses and fled. His heart nearly stopped at seeing Sovia bleeding with shards of eggs surrounding her.

He'd rushed to her side to yank the spear out before turning slowly to see what she was cradling in her paws. She, oblivious to the pain. Just sat with the tiny forms of baby dragons on her claws, watching them with tears streaming down her face as she watched them gasping for the air that wouldn't support them.

They were so small, so fragile, their little wing membranes were undeveloped and they were so thin with large paws and little horns. They were not due to hatch for another 30 years.

Sovia's remaining eggs were tucked up close to her side while she licked and comforted her hatchlings. Smaug nuzzled the tops of their head gently with his own, but the poor things barely had enough energy to do more than cry pitifully.

It took the small beings several days to die.

When they finally lay still, Sovia had cried and roared her agony to the heavens as she clutched the bodies of the little beings closer to her chest, in a feeble attempt to warm them back to life. Smaug had just wrapped himself around her whilst she cried. And he felt absolutely useless because it was a threat he couldn't protect her from.

In the end, he had left her there, broken but sleeping with her young tucked up close to her, both the living and the dead.

He had travelled to where the men had come from, following their scent trails through the wind and rain. He arrived at a small settlement where the people of the city of man had attempted to rebuild their old lives.

Smaug had sauntered into the place, ignoring the guards that had attempted to fight him off. Only the egg smashers would die this night, but he would not hesitate to destroy any who got in his way. The people stayed out of his way as though sensing this, huddled up close to the sides of the buildings. He finally came across a human establishment. The scent of chemicals and sweat flowed from the doorway, as well as the scents of the ones he was looking for.

His claws ripped the roof off the establishment and his eyes hungrily sought out the scents. He hadn't counted on the presence of females and their shrieking irritated his ears. The glints of gold were what caught his eye.

Ahh, so the murderers had managed to fill their pockets with gold to top it all, thought Smaug with hatred.

He roared until they were silent and noticed that the group of survivors were all sitting together. Great, easier for him. He noticed them quickly hiding away the gold in their pockets and under the tables with only slight amusement.

"Rest easy fools, I am not here for your gold once mine" when their faces shifted to hopeful expressions he shouted, "I'm here for what you stole from me!"

"O dragon, we have taken nothing of your cept the gold" one brave man said.

Smaug growled menacingly at them "You have broken my young"

The same one snarled back, trying to appear brave "You killed mine"

Another shushed him before saying " O dragon, forgive us, we merely thought they were precious stones but they were too heavy and…"

"SO YOU MURDERED MY OFFSPRING FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR OWN GREED AND STUPIDITY. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE AT ALL!" he roared before releasing a flame on them because he couldn't bear to look upon them any longer.

Without a word, he left the town and returned to grieve with his mate.

SOVIA POV

She had not eaten for many days for she no longer wished to leave her remaining eggs. Smaug had taken their babies away a while ago. She had not asked what had been done with them, nor did she want to know.

Of the six eggs she had laid, only two of them now survived so she would do everything in her power to protect them. They would hatch when they were ready, never when they were forced to as the others had been. She wrapped the eggs closer to her body and curled up so her head rested between the soft shells. She fell into an uneasy sleep, only waking briefly when she felt Smaug settle beside her to lick the wound that had left her with a lame leg.

Her feeling of safety had been extinguished, and her senses had heightened in response.

No one would ever sneak up on her again.


	7. Different

**Hello everyone! Hope you've had an amazing day. OMG I just watched the best movie ever "Battle for Terra" has anybody else seen it? If you haven't watch it. Now…yes I mean now. Go. Do it!**

**Ahem anyways the last chapter was pretty depressing and I feel sorry for Sovia but here is the part you've all been waiting for! **

**Drum roll please…**

**Bilbo Baggins is gonna knock on the door! –holds out arms dramatically with a goofy smile on face- so yeah…..**

**Here we go :D**

Sovia shifted slightly under the pile of treasure. For the first time in several years, Sovia had slept apart from her clutch of eggs which was marvelous for her back since they weren't digging into it. Of course they were guarded, her head was pointed in their direction and Smaug's tail was draped near them, but it was a sign that she was healing from the loss she had suffered earlier.

The babies were nearly constantly clicking and cooing through the thick shell. IT was near time for them to hatch. Smaug estimated that it would be only a few months. Sovia couldn't wait. She was desperate to see them, to wipe away the memories of their dead siblings undeveloped faces, and fill them with new memories filled with mischevious youngling antics and love.

Smaug, was more wary of her these days, she had not been quite right emotionally and as a result, he was highly protective of her and only left when he absolutely had to.

The humans had left his mate with a lame back leg from the iron tipped spear. She could walk on it, but it was very painful for her.

Sovia's eyes never strayed from her eggs. From the light from her mate, she could faintly see the outlines of her offspring. They were sleeping now, but she saw every movement they made as they floated dreamily under the thick shell and her heart warmed in response.

However, her attention was snared when she heard a faint pitter patter against the floor. She raised her head to look in it's direction but saw nothing. Her eyes narrowed but then her mate shifted to roll onto his fore legs, scattering gold which fell on the egss. She growled lightly in response but relaxed, it was just her mate after all. Smaug snapped his teeth playfully at her before stretching out the kinks in his body.

"Where are you going?" She spoke quietly in defference to the younglings.

He replied equally as quiet "Hunting dear one, the cold will come soon and there will be less game a foot" He crossed the distance between them. "I will be back before the second sun. Be safe" and then he left.

She drifted off to sleep again before his footsteps had faded into nothing.

She came to with a start, nostils twitching and eyes going wild. There was something nearby that she had never scented before. In her nervous state, she slide near-silently down the bed into the centre of the nest where hse wrapped herself protectively around her eggs.

She heard that pitter patter again but again saw nothing. A low murmering of hished voices caught her attention. They were getting closer.

Her eyes focused again on the spot she had originally heard the pitter patter come from and was startled to see a bird, of all things, swooping through a crack she was sure had not been there before.

The bird dive bombed her head and she swatted at it with her talons, hissing in annoyance. It was good at dodging, but didn't appear to be very smart as it landed on the end of her nose. She felt her eyes cross and she slowly opened her mouth. She moved very quickly and the bird was no more.

Stupid thing, how did it get in? Oh yes, the crack in the wall. She sniffed the air tentatively. Fresh air was drifting through it but also the scent of other things. Smelly, stinky, dirty, bloody, sweaty, oily musk. Where had she smelled that before? There was something else that she definitely knew she had never come across. It smelled of mint leaves and roses mixed with a heavy aroma of fear. A trait recognizable even in the smallest of creatures which gave her no information whatsoever on the nature of this being.

The voices rose again slightly before a collective hush settled around the entire mountain. Her eyes, fixed upon the door as they were, watched as the crack on the wall became larger and larger until a small hole had formed. She cocked her head. A hidden door.

How strange.

With it's opening another flood of fresh air wafted inside bringing in scents from the outside world she had not seen in nearly 60 years. Moist earth, sky blue, rain, icy air, stubborn flowers and green grass.

Her mind reeled in the overload of images that were evoked from just the scent of these things and shut her eyes to try to process them. A world she had not realized she had missed in her grief.

But when she heard another noise, she rememebered why she had not been outside and shifted closer to her clutch. With her tail she flicked a mountain of gold until her back half was covered from sight under the glittering mass. Hey were lsightly cool and made her body shiver slightly before they warmed to a comfortable degree.

She lowered her neck and closed her eyes to appear she was sleeping and waited.

The unknown scent grew closer and she distinctly heard a male voice speaking to another about how he would stay here and warn the others if her got incinerated.

Amazing, she thought with faint amusement, they have offered a dragon a scapegoat.

She regulated her breathing and allowed steam to rise from her nostrils. I could've doen theatre, she thought with pride, and played that sleeping briar rose in the castle.

She heard a solitary figure come closer, muttering to himself about tookish foolishness and wishing to go home.

She was curious as to wht exactly tookish foolishness was

BILBO POV

Bilbo baggons of the Shire was regretting his decision to come on 'an adventure' even as he felt the comforting presence of his ring on his finger. Balin had stopped before he could see the outline of the door Bilbo was slowly making his way to.

He heard a great rumbling growl and a shifting of gold and softened his footsteps to creep noiselessly loosened his dagger from it's sheath, tightened his belt and moved on. The doorway getting closer than ever until he stood just on the threshold.

"Now your in for it at last Bilbo Baggins" he said to himself, unaware that the dragon could hear every word "You went and put your foot right into it that night of the party and now you have got to pull out and pay for ti! Dear me, what a fool

I was and am! I have absoulty no use for dragon guarded treasure and the whole lot could stay here forever…."

He was interrupted by a question that floated down the depths of the tunnel. And faintly heard Balin scuttle back down the way he'd come.

"If you don't seek the gold, then what is it you seek Bilbo Baggins?"

His heart just about stopped.

SOVIAS POV

Why was he here if there was no treasure-lust in him? All te others had come for it. OSvia herself could not se the appeal. Sure it was a comfy bed, but if it hadn't been for Smaug she wouldn't of been there at all.

So of course she asked the creature what it was doing there so close to her family. It was only natural. But she was afraid she'd startled the porr creature as it was silent and its heartbeat was stuttering in its chest.

"Come closer small one so I can see you"

The creature it seemed, recovered rather quickly and squeaked out "I'd rather not Lady dragon, I was informed that another was here named Smaug the Terrible and I'm afraid I must have gotten the wrong treasure filled cavern"

Smaug the Terrible? Wrong Cavern? NOW she was interested.

"And what is it you want with my mate dear one" she asked politely.

"Your mate!?" his voice mimicked that of a shrieking female "You mean there are two dragons in here?!"

"No I believe that at the present time, I am the only one in here. You will receive no harm from me" She listened for the creatures next move and was rewarded for her patience when the small footsteps shuffled closer.

"Can I have your word on that?"

"Unless you do something to me and mine, I have no cause to hurt you"

That seemed to enough for the small creature for she smelled him closer and heard him settle at the entrance to the cavern. She still could not see him so there was only one explanation.

"Been delving into the magic circle have we?"

"How did you know?" he squeaked, on guard again she could tell.

She rolled onto her back, head still in a position she could see the door. "It's obvious little one, I can not see you but I know you're there. There is no point in hiding your visage" She hummed a short song to herself whilst the creature thought.

She expected it but was still surprised by his sudden appearance that she blinked and bared her teeth slightly.

What she saw made her snarl in rage "THEY SENT A YOUNGLING TO FACE A DRAGON!"

The youngling flinched and she hummed an apology. Her words must have registered though for her drew himself up again and nearly angrily said "I, madam and no child, I'm a Hobbit"

"Hobbit, I have never heard of a hobbit before now" She said curiously

"Shire-folk, Half-lings maybe but definitely not a youngling, I mean child my lady" he said forcefully and she raised a heavily ridged eye.

"And where do you Hobbit dwell little one" she asked

"The shire"

"Whats it like in the Shire?"

"Why do you wish to know that?"

"I have not left this cavern for near 60 years little one and the world appears to have changed much in my absence"

The little hobbit seemed to pity her and obliged her by telling her tales of his youth in amoungst the green and growing of the Shire. Hobbits, she found out, had a fondness for food, ale and the smoking of pipes. Strange creatures Hobbits were she found.

She found them fascinating. "And tell me, Master Baggins, are there any dragons in the area?"

"Goodness me no, only rolling hills and tinkling rivers"

"Shame, it would be a brilliant place to live"

"Yeah, it may not be if a dragon moves in…..i mean, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you"

"Not to worry little one, You're probably right, dragons are notoriously selfish and not above cruel acts to get what they want" She sighed sadly "We are predictable as a race"

She settled again. And Bilbo inched closer and patted the tip of her talon gently. "If it's all the same, I'm glad you didn't act all predictable and incinerate me until I was nothing but ash"

She smiled gently at him before nudging him with her nose "It was very nice to meet you Master Baggins, but I believe I have taken up enough of your time but before you go, take something, anything you wish, back to your companions" she indicated the pile.

"Why?"

"Because you have amused me little one and I find myself grateful for your stories. Go on now"

The little Hobbit scurried about before choosing an ornately crafted cup. At the doorway he halted before turning and bowing low to her.

She dipped her head at him gracefully and he was gone, his footsteps fading into the darkened depths of the mountain.

BILBO POV

He couldn't believe it. He'd survived a dragon. Not only that, but a _female_ dragon, guarding a treasure, mated to one of the most viscious dragons in recorded history.

He'd had a conversation with her as though he were an invited guest and not once had she looked on him like he was dinner. Thorin and the others wouldn't believe this.

He grasped his little piece of treasure tightly to his chest as he hurried down the corridor. As he approached the group, he wrinkled his nose s the scent of unwashed dwarves invaded. He knew he didn't smell much better.

He opened his mouth to speak but was almost instantaneously assaulted by questions.

"Ye alright?"

"Did ye get incinerated?"

"Did ye see the dragon?"

it went on like this for a few minutes until Thorin called for quiet. It was then that he showed the cup to the rest of the company.

Balin said in awe "How did ye steal it? Was it easy? Did ye use yer magic ring?"

Bilbo took a deep breath and readied himself to be ridiculed. "Um, no actually it was a gift"

Thorin eyed him suspiciously "how so?"

"It wasn't Smaug in there, this dragon was female and she was really nice"

Kili and Fili scoffed "Because she didn't eat you, that makes her nice, for sure, for sure, that's a good one!"

But that was the only ridiculeling he received much to his surprise, and fili and kili, upon realizing they were the only ones laughing, soon sobered at their uncles thoughtful gaze.

However, it was broken by Nori, Ori and Dori fanatic and excited whispering which was interrupted by Thoring sternly saying "Something yor wish to share with the rest of us?"

Ori spoke up, rubbing his big nose as he did so "Well, ye know how we was kinda stuck, with the dragon cause the big brute had sealed the doors?"

"Yes" thorin said slowy

"Well, we kinda had a lil' help in escapinig and all"

Dori interrupted his younger sibling " What Ori's saying is, that we were saved by Smaug's mate."

The other Dwarves and Bilbo now had their complete attention.

"But why would a dragon help you?" asked Balin

"And why ddin't it eat you?" asked bofur, who was shoveling in a small morsel of their food as he did so.

"To be honest with ye, we've often wondered that ourselves"

Thorin stood up "What colour was this dragon's hide"

It wasn't a question, but an order which would be followed.

"It was an odd color, a blue that was not a blue at the same time, more like a reflection of the sky"

"Then it's the same dragon that spared us after Smaug had claimed Erebor"

he said to Balin and Dwalin who both nodded in agreement.

Bilbo was confused "So wait, you know this dragon, and better yet you _knew_ there were _two_ dragons in there when you sent me in there?" the end cam out with a squeak.

Balin was quick to placate him "Well to be honest with ye Master Baggins, we didn't know if she was still there. I mean, would you live with Smaug?" when Bilbo still looked confused he elaborated.

"The day Erebor fell, We were desolate as you can imagine, our home was gone, our people had been bought to their knees and we were on the run to get as far away as possible from the red death of Smaug." He paused to settle himself further.

"This much you know, but what happened after had the potential to devastate our people even further. After the victorious cries of Smaug and the betrayal of the elves, we heard another cry."

"The dragon I saw"

Balin nodded before continueing "this dragon…."

He was interrupted by Nori who said rather dryly "Her name is Sovia"

Bilbo asked him "How do you know?"

"How else? She told me"

Balin cleared his throat "As I was saying… this dragon…Sovia" he added at a hard glance from Nori " Came out of the forest where she had been hiding, waddling as fast as she could towards Erebor"

"wait, waddling?" said Bilbo.

"Well master baggons have you ever seen a pregnant female before?" asked Thorin impatiently

"well yes my younger cousin….wait….oh, okay"

Balin nodded, "Yes well this dragon was obviously SMaugs mate and Thorin, who was not in his right mind at the time charged her. But instead of retaliating as you would think a dragon might, she looked frightened and cowered away from him. But when he continued to antagonize her, she picked him up and said something like "You have suffered enough" which is when she put him down, and left"

He looked around the company "A heavily condensed version but it boils down to this: that dragon will not harm us. "

Kili looked confused "And that helps what exactly?"

Balin rolled his eyes "That means, young master, that we have a better chance at getting more of the treasure without threat of being incinerated or worse"

They all agreed if the glint in their eyes was much indication. The prospect of more gold… the lust was in comprehensible to Bilbo, but he put a smile on his face and celebrated with the others.

And for a time, all of them forgot that Sovia was not the only dragon under-the-mountain.

**So a much longer chapter right here. I apologise for any mistakes as my spell checker sucks at the moment.**

**I forgot to mention up above and on the last two chapters but thank you everyone who has favourited, followed or reviewed my story. It makes my day that much more special.**

**By the way, I'm having trouble thinking of a suitable ending and am open to any ideas you are willing to throw at me. PM me or review me I don't mind.**

**:D**


	8. Dwarves!

**Hey everybody, sorry for the short wait. Once again went on a short trip. Notice that none of the places I go to have Internet. I wonder if my parents purposefully do that. But anyway, the weather was nice, Saw the Hobbit again and was filled with these ridiculous fan-girl giggles that made the sane side of myself shake its head, while im sure my friends tried very hard to ignore me and let me have my moments….They are good friends.**

**Anyway, that's my speel, also feel a little sick so forgive me if this chapter sucks and feel free to leave a review after you hit that back button.**

**Also I am a little curious as to where my readers are from…?**

The eggs were squawking in protest as Sovia rolled them to the farthest side of the treasure pile where she had dug out her nest. The chicks inside did not appreciate the rolling movement and were not quiet in their complaints. She felt a smile tugging at her jaw and laughter bubbling up from her chest, a deep rumble which vibrated the floor. Funnily enough it seemed to soothe the chicks and Sovia faintly realized it was how Smaug had kept them quiet in her brief absences so he could sleep. Many times she had caught him humming various tunes, and with his deeper voice, probably produced this same result.

Clever dragon.

Faintly she felt the temperature drop in the lair as a result from the opening of the hidden door. She settled her forelegs around the eggs so the heat from her chest would make up for the cold.

Her thoughts drifted to the small Hobbit.

She had enjoyed her meeting with the Hobbit. They must've been a young race for she had never even heard of them before and found them, if her meeting with Bilbo Baggins was anything to be judged by, an intrigueing race.

Fond of food, they had several meals a day. But what interested her the more was the beauty the hobbits words had described. Of green rolling hills and the inhabitants fondness for all things that grew.

Yes they would be lovely neighbours to have.

She had meant what she had said when she had voiced her interest in visiting but had not been surprised by the hobbits quickness to deter her. She couldn't blame him, hell she even ddin't want another of her species as a neighbor.

Only Smaug.

Smaug. She thought. Now he was a problem. For the first time in her life she dreaded his return. Just from the change in the air flow, he would detect her young friends scent and that of his _brave_ companions. She didn't really fancy being served a shishkebab hobbit, especially since her eggs were close to hatching. As the male, his instincts would be screaming at him to eliminate all possible dangers, which was ironic, Sovia thought, when he could effectively become a danger to them himself if he continued to destroy villagers and, potentially, wrathful and vengeful people, if he hadn't done so already.

She was completely indecisive about her next move. The fact that there were others in the mountain boded the possibility that there could be more that she hadn't detected yet.

She loved her mate, adored him completely, but the fact remained that it wasn't just the two of them anymore.

And they had a rather large bed of gold.

No, if the hobbit and his companions came, she would not attack unless they came near her young. Trying to guarantee their survival was what drove her now.

Speaking of the hobbit and his companions, they were aweful noisy at the moment, no doubt celebrating the fact she hadn't killed Bilbo, she thought wryly.

Her back legs went stiff and she shifted them restlessly, her tail flicking back and forth, sweeping gold into massive trenches that clinked and clattered noisily.

Soon the loudness of the Hobbits companions began to get noticeably louder and she pawed at her ears in irritation. Her eyes had JUST started to close darn it.

"KEEP IT DOWN!" she roared when the noise level, somehow, again, rose.

It abrubtly fell and she sighed in contentment. A faint apology could be heard through the wall. Most likely Bilbo.

Settling her head around her clutch, she tried to recall the heavy feeling of approaching slumber.

It would not come.

How ironic.

She was interrupted yet again by the sounds of approaching footsteps down the corridor. This time, it was not the solitary footsteps of the hobbit. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. These were many. Heavy, booted feet thudded against the cool stone. It was impossible to tell the amount given the echoes distorting her hearing. But for all the noise they were making it sounded like a small army.

She sharpened her talons against a nearby diamond just in case.

Suddenly there was silence again and she tensed and her body coiled behind her, ready to spring at the invading army.

Imagine her surprise when her little Hobbit friend popped out of the wall, his little face flushed from the exertion of running.

"Don't tell me all that racket was you Master Baggins" She said incredulously, hiding away her freshly sharpened talons under her awkwardly. "I thought for sure that there was a thous…." Her voice trailed off at the Hobbits guilty expression before more figures popped into view.

Sovias initial reaction was to blink. In front of her were figures barely taller than the Hobbit himself who mumbled something along the lines of "I bought some friends"

The scent finally clicked in her memory as the she identified the creatures as dwarves. And all of them were armed.

When they raised their weapons towards her she growled warningly before hissing  
"What is the meaning of this Bilbo Baggins?"

The poor thing just cowered under her heated gaze and several dwarves found it within their stony hearts to put themselves in front of him, as if she was a threat to him. "Just because I am a Dragon does not mean that its not necessary to knock" she said humorlessly and bared her fangs.

One Dwarf pushed forward and didn't stop until he was directly in front of her. She looked down her nose at him, nnot blinking. This dwarf possessed the most brilliant of blues for his eyes, very familiar eyes in fact... darn it where had she seen them? Curse her shoddy memory!

Her brow quirked when he just stared at her with the others not attacking. For a long time, a tense silence filled the cavern.

"I don't suppose your mother taught you that it was rude to stare either" she said finally and the spell was broken, for another dwarf stepped forward to stand next to the first.

"Are you Sovia?", it asked hesitantly. It was young in comparioson to the rest of the company which was filled with hardened warriors and old greybeards. She felt her gaze soften as she recognized this dwarf. She surprised herself, for age had changed him, yet the kindness in his eyes and the shy way he had said her name was her clue.

It was young Ori.

Ori, who held a makeshift slingshot tightly in his fist.

"Well young Master, it's been quite a few years, tell me, how fare your siblings?"

"We fare well Lady dragon" a gruff voice caught her attention. She glanced at the dwarf and then the one next to him and smiled a toothy grin. Dori, still big nosed and stern of face and Nori still had his crazy plaited hairstyles.

"It does my heart good to see you alive and well"

"Well the last time you saw us I must admit to feeling slightly off due to being absolutely terrified of being incinerated by your mate"

She chuckled, this time with real humour.

"Yes well, it is good to see you, but I must say, I am puzzled by the fact that the rest of your company are still pointing their weapons at me"

One dwarf, she later learned was called Dwalin said "Well excuse us, if our last encounter with a bloody dragon was something of a traumatizing experience"

She quirked a brow again before sobering. "I assume this is not a social visit?"

"No it is not" said the blue eyed dwarf still standing in front of her, who hadn't broken his stare.

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but have I made your acquantince before Master Dwarf"

He shifted slightly as if uncomfortable before saying bluntly "You held me upside down"

A lightening bug dinged above her head as her mind made the connection. "The line of Durin is still strong to mine eyes"

"No thanks to you and your kin" he shot back, Sovia frowned at his hostility before brushing off the comment. He _did_ have a right to be slightly peeved.

Her eyes snapped to two dwarves at the rear still eyeing her wearily. She had been alerted to the sound of a string tightening on ones bow. They looked familiar to her, but were to young to have been there the day Erebor fell. She shifted her head over several dwarves to sniff at them delicately. The ones her head passed over, jumped away from her incoming head and raised their weapons again, but when she withdrew again to her previous pose she shook her head derisively at the lot of them.

"My, my , my I have never seen such behavior! As if I would eat you! "She sniffed again before musing "the smell let alone the parasites you could potentially give me" shaking her head and ignoring the protesting remarks from the others, gazed upon Thorin again.

"The line of Durin is strong enough I believe" at his eyes filled with confusion she stated "They have your blood-scent and are likened to your own appearance"

"Tell me" she went on "What is it you plan to do now?" Her forleggs shifted protectively around the eggs as she waited for their response. "As I am unlikely to find sleep again whilst you are nearby" said with a downcast expression "I suppose you might as well entertain me" Sighing, she lay her head down on the ground to stare at them expectantly.

BILBO POV

To anyone not in the company watching this strange exchange between dragon and dwarf, would have found it just that, strange and possibly a little amusing. Bilbo however couldn't share that feeling. His insides were still vibrating from the growls and frankly, he was getting annoyed at himself for his knees refused to stop knocking together.

He still couldn't get over the fact that he was not the first to have an exchange with the dragon and not killed. Ori, Nori and DOri had told them they'd even ridden briefly on her back. It wasn't fair that they hadn't told them of a possiblitly of a _nice_ dragon at the end of the tunnel.

The company, himself included was now staring incredously at the expectant dragon. He would liken her to a dog waiting patiently for a bone but she was far to intelligent and would likely bare insult if he did so. She was uncannily astute, and it was amazing that she was able to tell who was who from scent alone.

Fili looked faint and Kili was supporting him. Bilbo headed over to them, ignoring the dragon who was watching him move about with sharp eyes.

SOVIA POV

None of them said anything and she felt keen disappointment. As she watched Bilbo move over to where the Durin younglings were shaking, she cocked her head slightly and angled in closer. Amusement filled her when they squeaked but was astounded by the Hobbit who simply placed a hand on her muzzle and pushed her head away. His little shove wasn't much by her standards but she got the hint and retreated. The other dwarves had ceased their infernal staring and had switched their attention to the Hobbit as he murmured something in the youngling's ears.

Whatever they said, apparently got through to them though with differing reactions. One stood a little straighter but abruptly stooped to catch his sibling who had fallen into a dead faint.

While she was focusing on them, she didn't at first, notice Ori slinking up to her side to pear at the eggs. However she did notice when he hesitantly move his hand to touch them. She growled before she realized who it was. She had just opened her jaws to bite when she paused. Ori didn't look afraid, just apologetic and held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture. The others however reacted as one might expect when a companion was threatened. However when they noticed she had paused in her attack they too stopped their hasty grabs for their weapons.

She closed her jaws with an audible snap and a heavy exhale. Ori waved a hand in front of his nose and said "Easy lads, the only thing she could kill me with is her breath"

Sovia looked slightly affronted but nudged him gently with her head in apology. Thorin narrowed his eyes at the dragon while the rest just looked relieved that Ori wasn't about to be roasted.

Sovia distinctly heard one of the dwarves mutter, "I dunno what's worse, a furnace with wings or an unpredictable, _affectionate_ furnace with wings"

She blew air towards the offending dwarf, just hot enough as not to scald him and returned her attention to Ori. She shifted slightly so the eggs were easier to see and gestured with her head at Ori. "You may touch them"

When he did, his hand rested against them gently, before moving it across the surface. His fingers shifting over the bumps on the leathery surface. "They're very warm"

"Of course young Master, They're _dragon_ eggs, not like your chickens or your elves"

The surrounding dwarves laughed loudly, some even slapping their thighs in their mirth. Even Thorin cracked a smile.

She looked around. "What?"

"Elves aren't egg-layers lass" said Dori.

She frowned in confusion "But they walk like birds, talk like birds and even eat like birds"

That just caused them to laugh harder which caused her to frown.

She decided to change topics "Tell me about your journey here, I've already heard Bilbo's" she hinted.

One old dwarf began recounting their tale. His voice was very soothing and every one settled comfortably despite the fact that they'd participated in much of the story. Ori sat on one of her forelegs and Bilbo plucked up the courage to nestle against her side, flicking stray coins as he did so.

They all grew comfortable, but as she had discovered with these dwarves, the silence did not last for long.

The growling sound of her name being called in worry. A light suddenly appeared in the distance and more snarling and growling reverberated around the great halls.

She frantically nudged Ori and flicked her back claws at Bilbo, causing him to fly, unceremoniously in a heap close to the door. She semi-herded them towards the entrance. All of them running at top pace.

She jumped to her feet and limped over to her mate to give them more time. As she touched his nose in greeting, him nearly deflating in relief before they made their way back to the eggs, she knew she couldn't stop him from scenting the dwarvish scent on her. They were rather ripe.

He sniffed about her person and she faintly heard the sound of the hidden door closing and the quiet shuffle of their feet. Smaug however was far too busy checking her for potential injury.

"I smelled something different in the cavern" he said in way of explanation for his nervous behavior. She smiled tightly, but said nothing and at down heavily, he leg had started to ache because of the way she'd jumped up. At her groan he started fussing over her. She was a bit put out with her mate for his untimely interruption and was effectively giving him the cold shoulder.

The dwarf Balin had just been getting to the good part.

**Sorry if chapter sucks, as I said above, am not feeling well and spell check is playing up. Do you know what funny though, it accepts all the dwarves names, names of places in middle earth and some elvish. I did not know this until I started writing a one shot I should have posted later.**

**Hope you all having a good day and again please leave a review before hitting the back button :D **


	9. Water

**Thank you for all those that reviewed. Its strange how my life seems to brighten when I open my email in the morning. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter but am warning you now, am not really proud of it.**

**I'm kinda stalling if you can understand that cause I am still unclear as to how this will end. Will she die alongside Smaug? Will she move to another mountain? Will she hate the company after the death of Smaug? Will she stay with the company and guard the halls and new king under the mountain along with her young?**

**Well I dunno so now its up to you. Leave a review and tell me what you want before you hit that back button :D**

Smaug had made her go. For a dragon that had been completely anal about making sure she stayed inside, she found it really strange that he wished for her to leave now. Thankfully he amounted her apprehension to leaving because of concern for their young, rather than worry for the intruders.

Sovia could see something in his eyes that she did not trust. But still as to not arise further suspicion, she made her way out of the lair. She climbed the ridge that had allowed her to free the dwarves all those years ago. She stood on the ledge for the longest time, just breathing in the fresh air and feeling the sun beating down on her scales.

She raised her great wings before a massive leap led her to be carried on the cold air currents of the mountain. Tucking her legs underneath her to o faster she swooped and dived in her play, performing somersaults in mid-air before zipping into a downward spiral to pull up _just_ at the last second, her talons grazing the topsoil.

Eventually she had 'stretched' her flight muscles to her hearts content and set upon finding the secret entrance to speak with her dwarves. She worried that they would try and visit again without her there to warn them off, but hoped they were not stupid enough to venture to speak to Smaug.

She stretched her neck to its extent to sniff the air around her. The dwarves still hadn't bathed so it was easy enough to pinpoint their location. This thought made her pause.

If she could easily scent them from out here, what was to stop Smaug from doing so also?

She dove down quickly, landing heavily on her forelegs before her rump followed. She sniffed the ground again.

Yes there, she looked up and saw a very thin path snaking around the mountain. If she hadn't been looking for it she wouldn't have seen it. It would be foolish of her to walk up there, even if she had the desire to, which I must assure you she did not. Her bulk would break it and it would leave them no escape route. However the danger of their scent was another issue.

She knew of a lake nearby that was deep and cool. It was special in the way it smelled of the fauna of the area because of the plant known as soapstone. This was ground into what was deemed 'cleanser' which is what caused the bubbles. She personally detested the smell because it was so strong; it threw off the scent of prey, caused headaches and threw off a dragons heat cycle. She grimaced at her idea. It was definitely going to taste awful as well.

With a heavy heart and wings she reluctantly made her way to the lake.

It is hard to describe what she did then, for dragons have several stomachs, much like a cows, that could store food for several weeks until being taken to the 'digestive' stomach. This effectively made them similar to camels, except they were in the sky, not the desert. Whilst it was stored in the pantry stomachs, they could regurgitate it, as disgusting as it sounds, and like a cow, re-chew it or feed it to their young, like a bird. So try and think of a dragons bio-structure as a mutant cross between a cow, a camel and a bird.

So in a way she took a long drink, filling up all those stomachs (except the digestive one for obvious reasons). She had to exert strong will to stop herself from gagging and choked several times on the water. Her eyes watered and her nose was rendered useless. Once she had drunk all she could, she flew back to the mountain path.

She worked from memory for where the scent patches were and sprayed.

Sprayed all the way up the path (and unknowingly soaking a few dwarves and one small hobbit who still had the small stone propping open the door).

The soapstone water bubbled and sloshed over the path before finally sweeping over the sides in one wave.

Once the water had liked to a drizzle she performed one more deed to ensure her mate wouldn't scent them, if he hadn't already. Screwing her face up in concentration she flew higher before crashing into the side path and used her rough hide to sand down the edges. This ensured her scent was rubbed on the path instead and by using her own body, she also ensured she washed away any lingering traces of the sandstone.

BILBO POV

He had just been sitting down, after a mournful conversation with Bombur about their dwindling stash of supplies, with only half an apple in his hand to munch, when he heard a sound like torrential rain on the other side of the door. It pittered and pattered and grew louder with each passing second.

But what was worse was the wave of water that flooded into the cavern. Sweet smelling water that Bilbo himself would've enjoyed for a bath had it not swept away his apple and was a tad bit warmer. It filled the cavern in a huge rush but subsided as quickly as it came.

Several of his companions rushed for the door to open it for light, quickly checking to make sure there was no dragon, and propped it open.

The sight that greeted Bilbo was priceless enough he forgot his own discomfort. Bombur had bubbles spewing out of his mouth but he was the only one who's face he could see. The rest of the company sat there dripping. Hair completely drenched in front of their visages. Their thick woolen clothes looked heavy with the water saturating them but what made it even funnier was that the heady, sweaty scent of unwashed dwarf Bilbo had finally gotten used to was gone. In it's place they smelled similar to that of elf-kind. And they did not look happy for it, if their grumbles and shivering were anything to go by.

Bilbo choked down his laughter, as he was the only one who found their situation funny.

"What" spluttered Kili "was that!"

"My clothes are nay dirty," cried Dwalin indignantly. Obviously dirt was a source of pride for him.

Bifur and Bofur were both gagging as their beards had wrapped around their throats and they were busy trying to remove it, wincing when they accidently pulled out hair.

"I canne see!" screamed Balin, who surprised Bilbo by running around until he banged into the sidewall. Usually he was so much more…well reasonable.

Ori looked like a drowned kitten.

His brother's braids had come undone and both were clutching each other in their horror of being clean.

"I'm blinded!" bellowed Fili who crumpled in a heap at Bilbo's feet when the Hobbit had grabbed his shoulder to sit down.

But none was more horrified or horrifying than Thorin Oakenshield. The usually dignified ruler seemed to be restraining himself from folding into a ball to weep, for his eyes, the blue still visible under the mass of hair were glittering and he kept making odd movements as if he was bending down then abruptly straightening.

But he soon pulled himself together.

With an unsteady breath, he finally bellowed at them all for silence before turning to Bilbo.

"Master Baggins" he said through gritted teeth "I must request" in a tone anything but "that you find out…." Words seemed to fail him and he just vaguely gestured outside.

Bilbo obliged, not sure if he could hold in his laughter anymore. He slipped out the door at the same time pulling on his magic ring and abruptly disappeared from view. Behind him he could still hear the complaining of the dwarves "I smell like roses!" and wished they would be quieter. Now that the humor was over, Bilbo realized that they were placing themselves at greater risk by continuing to be loud.

He walked unseen to the lookout tree. He had just settled himself against a rock when a tumultuous crash sounded. Eyes wild with fright, and trying to steady his breathing, Bilbo wildly looked around for the source of the noise.

It didn't take him long. Dragons, after all, were rather big creatures. He had just in time t scoot back inside when he saw Sovia, rubbing her back against the side of the mountain, covered in soap bubbles herself, and groaning every now and then. His foot had just cleared the door when her spines dragged themselves in front of the door. The cavern they were in rumbled in protest and began to shake.

The dwarves who had by now gotten over their impromptu bath, scattered around to stand near Bilbo near the doorway, which was of course the only spot not dropping rocks on their heads.

When the shaking stopped, Bilbo had to remind himself how to breathe.

"I thought that dragon liked us" mumbled Fili grumpily.

It didn't make sense to Bilbo, so once he was sure he wasn't going to be crushed by either a dragon or a rock, he ventured outside. Her silhouette rose eerily from behind some low-lying clouds.

To get her attention he waved his arms briefly, then more frantically when he thought she hadn't seen him. She did, he realized later, she was just turning around and finding a better position to land.

She landed on the little ledge with a BOOM.

SOVIA POV

She locked her talons on bits of rock to secure herself before folding her wings down against her back. After so many years of not using them, the brief workout left them slightly sore, and she winced at the discomfort it brought her.

She lowered her head to stare at the Hobbit who funnily enough was soaking wet. Sovia had a realization that filled her with guilt, but pretended she didn't know by asking "Dear me Mister Baggins, I never dreamed that there was any cause to freshen up just to meet me"

"Forgive me Sovia, but why did you do that?" he asked her with as much dignity a wet Hobbit could muster.

"Do what?" she feigned ignorance again. Placing a faux puzzled expression on her face and cocking her head.

"Well…" he looked back at the wall and at his signal, out trooped several hairy, wet dwarves.

Sovia took one look at them before cracking up.

Oh they looked absolutely ridiculous.

She didn't need to smell them to know they smelled better. She herself couldn't smell anything but fauna and was still occasionally spitting out soapsuds.

She would never have done it if she'd known they were there.

Her musings were cut short by an angry glob of hair pushing its way to the front. Just by his heavy intake of air as he huffed in anger, Sovia knew that this was the soggy Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror.

"WHAT ON SWEET VALARS NAME WERE YOU INTENDING TO DO! DROWN US? BOIL US ALIVE ONCE YOU"D RINSED US…."

She interrupted him by blowing air at him. It caused his hair to erupt into static clumps behind him and his heavy furs to flare out before they too puffed up from their suddenly dry state.

This image made Sovia laugh even harder and she nearly lost her footing on the side of the mountain.

Once she'd sobered she said "I apologise Master dwarves" she inclined her head at all of them "and you to dear Bilbo, but I was actually doing this as an act of protection for you"

"How" the dwarf named Dwalin said with gritted teeth "Did it help us?"

Sovia cleared her throat "Well, in all honesty, the bath probably did you some good anyway. I was just hiding your scent up the mountain so Smaug wouldn't smell you and you know…" she searched for the phrase they'd used yesterday "Incinerated, eviscerated and all those lovely annihilation words I can't think of currently"

She looked at them, beaming broadly, she was proud of herself.

Bilbo cleared his throat.

"Ummm Sovia, I don't mean to be rude, but you almost drowned us, crushed us with rocks when you crash landed…"

"I DID NOT CRASH LAND BILBO BAGGINS" she roared

"Right then, uh" it was Bilbo's turn to search for a word "you fell gracefully from the sky" at her nod of approval he continued "But when you were scratching your fleas against the door…."

"Fleas?" she stated incredulously "I am a noble dragon descended from a strong lineage. I. DO. NOT. GET. FLEAS. And anyway" she corrected " I was scenting not scratching" she huffed in his face indignantly.

"Yes, well anyway, when you were _scenting_ the area, you just about killed us"

"It wasn't done intentionally," she said as if that made it better. In her eyes it did, but to Bilbo she was being unreasonable.

"Sovia" e said patiently "I believe you owe the Dwarves an apology"

She thought for a moment "I'm not sorry you smell better, but I do apologise for nearly killing you" she cocked her head "Twice" she affirmed

Ori steeped forward "Um. Sovia, would you mind, drying us?"

She obliged them by opening her jaws wide and with several puff of air, did as he asked.

They looked like a bunch of pompoms. Even Bilbo's hair was a small ball around his head.

Sovia swallowed her laughter for the second time that day before a thought occurred to her.

She dove off the rock face and descended to the forest below.

LATER….

It took her awhile, her sense of smell had still not recovered from the abuse from the lake, but she had finally managed to bring down a large buck that had wandered to far from its herd.

She gripped it in her back talons, only faintly annoyed when its antlers kept brushing her tail as the animal thrashed weakly.

Seeing the rock face she aimed, before releasing the buck. The fall killed it instantly, and the noise was enough to rouse the dwarves. They just stood there in awe at the carcass before doing their thing with some knives.

It was late. The sun was setting and she'd already begun to feel the maternal pull towards her eggs. Because of this, she didn't stop to chat to her strange visitors and headed straight for the entranceway.

As soon as Smaug had seen her glow he'd leapt up to greet her. He sniffed her. "You smell like the lake"

"I was looking at my reflection and I fell in" an acceptable answer to he who was very vain. He nodded as though it happened to him all the time as well and ushered her towards the nest.

She settled down with a heavy thump.

She was just about to drift off when Smaug spoke. "A strange thing has occurred today love"

"And what would that be Smaug" she asked, tension was filling her insides at his tone.

"A strange creature came by today and spoke to me. He claimed he was nobody" Smaug chuckled with little humor "It's stranger still that after he was gone, I noticed my favorite cup was missing"

She looked up at him in stupification. He didn't even use the darn thing so how could it be his favorite? AND it had been gone for several days, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Oh?" she inquired

"We have a thief in our midst my dear. I begin my hunt tomorrow"

"Don't worry my sweet" he mistook her fear for herself and their young and nuzzled her gently "I will make sure my family is safe"

With that he laid down his great head and began to rumble snores in a regular pattern.

Sovia couldn't sleep after that. Something bad was coming. She could feel it.

After all, the hunt began tomorrow.

**Remember how this ends is being put to a vote but I'm too lazy to make a poll so if you want your opinion to count, you will just have to review before you hit that back button. **

**OK?**

**OK ;D**


	10. Grief and Retribution

**All I can say is wow guys!  
**

**Thank you to CHSShortie, Sekhmet49, SkittleMachine, creepyLOTHRfandgirl 55, VampWolf92, Enchanted Elf, The Princess Dragon and WhisperArtemisMoon and 12 reader for your feedback, (I'll see what I can do :D)**

**So anyway I'm gonna sit down and get to writing. We are close to the end guys!**

"Wumpan Gangnam style!"

**ahem... so anyways... ENJOY :D**

After waking from a restless sleep, Sovia opened her eyes to find she was alone and the lair was uncannily silent. SO silent in fact that the sound of her own heartbeat was like a drum beating a taboo in her ears.

She sniffed the air only to remember that she couldn't. The scent of the soapstone was still overpowering everything around her and a faint headache was still booming in her temples. Huffing in annoyance she rose to her feet and limped over to check on her brood.

_Hmmm, _she thought_, a bit too warm._ She started to nudge them over to a cooler pile of gold. Inside the babies squawked in protest and she could feel them moving under the shell as if to avoid her. OH Valar they were going to be a handful. The thought made her smile.

After they were placed in a suitable temperature she turned her attention to the rest of the nest. Good gracious it was a mess. Smaug had apparently been malting and his scales were scattered everywhere. She shuddered in disgust as she gazed at the clumps.

She raised her tail to sweep them all into the river a little ways away. That only took a few minutes much to her vexation. She started to arrange some piles of gold artfully around the nest. However the gold wasn't willing to co-operate and kept falling apart _just_ as she'd managed to get it stable.

It took her a good hour, after multiple failures, to finally give up.

She was _bored_.

She wondered if Bilbo Baggins would visit today and tell her more stories of the Shire. The thought of the Hobbit made her pause.

Wait…

Oh no…

She leapt to her feet over to the wall where the hidden door was and started scrabbling at it, hoping to tear it apart. All she managed to do to the stone was sharpen her talons. Curse the Dwarves and their fine workmanship!

She leaned her head against the stone in defeat. So that was why it was so quiet.

They had been discovered and she hadn't been there to help him. And not to mention the dwarves who had lost everything before finally, most likely painfully, losing their lives.

Pity and grief filled her and she sat back on her haunches, still staring at the wall where the door should be and roared.

A deep roar that shook the very mountain from the inside out, reverberating across the barren landscape surrounding the mountain, over the canopy of trees that made up Mirkwood, even reaching the ears of the fabled rock giants who paused in their forever war to glance in the direction of the Lonely Mountain.

Yes, the Lonely Mountain was aptly named.

SMAUG POV

Smaug was feeling very pleased with himself, despite the fact that he had lost his precious cup to the thieves which had likely melted down with their bodies from his fire. Well, such was life and he had extracted his vengeance and made sure Sovia and his young were safe.

Sovia.

She was acting strangely lately. She was distracted, that much was clear and she acted suspicious and a lot more jumpy than usual.

Smaug wasn't sure what to do, it wasn't like she came with an instruction manual and he hated second-guessing himself about her true intentions.

Obviously nothing drastic, he soothed himself, she wouldn't leave the young or him either, he was just being silly. She was a sky dragon rather than a firedrake like him, she just missed the sky. Yeah that right. It was why he'd sent her out yesterday.

And imagine his surprise when, once she was gone, he'd had a rather entertaining game of riddles with a nobody. He huffed out a laugh, a nobody, seriously, there was no such thing even if he'd never smelled him before, and it had to be _something_.

The game had been fun since the creature had new ones to teach him. The one with the horses in it had been extraordinarily clever, despite his lack of creativity in naming itself. Too bad the creature had to die along with the dwarves he'd scented earlier that morning. It may have not been much of a threat, but they certainly were.

With their axes and formidable temper, they were an enemy that even Smaug had to think carefully about before attacking. They were unpredictable and followed no particular pattern of attack except to charge.

The only reason he'd been successful at Erebor was because they were without direction and were trying to escape his fire rather than fight. He'd realized this a few years ago and that he'd left far too many of them alive.

But he'd rectified that he thought with pride. Never could Sovia accuse him of leaving a job half done.

Now he must continue onto the small human settlement across the water. For their treachery in aiding the dwarves, they would pay with their lives.

He was nearly there when he heard Sovias cry. His heart nearly stopped beating and he quickly used his forward momentum to flip around to head back towards the mountain. He pumped his legs as if to part the air and flapped his wings as hard as he could.

Soon he arrived and barely bought himself up in time before he landed hard on the stone floor.

He ran to the nest.

Just when her glow came into view, he noticed two things:

She wasn't at the nest

And

She was leaning against the wall

Something was terribly wrong.

"Sovia!" he called and raced to her to comfort her.

He was astounded when she whirled around, a dark gleam in her glimmering eyes that he didn't like.

"You _killed_ them," she hissed.

Her body language was aggressive. Her wings were high in the air and her legs were placed in front of her as if to defend herself from him. From him? He wasn't a danger to her.

"Who?" he asked, stunned that she would react this way. He'd killed a lot of creatures and she'd never before batted an eyelid.

She just hissed and spit at him in reply and he snapped his teeth at her. He wasn't fabled for his patience and she was stretching his.

SOVIA POV

All she could see in her mind was an image of charred bodies still flaming in the darkness of the passage they'd taken up residence in. And it filled her with anguish-induced rage.

She'd failed to protect them just like she'd failed to protect her babies, long since buried in some forgotten place. She was useless as a dragon, but she wasn't going to surround herself with the life Smaug had built for them, filled with nothing but hatred, greed and loneliness. There were a few shards of sunshine of course, but the red overshadowed them. That vicious, cloying red that had flowed to freely since she'd mated to him.

She wanted him out.

She circled in front of the eggs, swiping at him with her talons as she passed until he began to back away slowly. Hissing and spitting at each other in the primal language that was their own, she cursed him and in his shock he did nothing except snarl back at her.

Her talons took another swipe and embedded into his shoulder making him cry out. He snapped his jaws once before leaping at her.

His jaws closed over her spine tightly and he shook her roughly. She awkwardly turned in his grasp to sink her teeth into his jugular, not nearly deep enough to cause death, but enough pain to force him to drop her. He lashed out and dug his claws viscously into her side. She let out a strangled scream and whipped him with her tail. It loyally smacked him between the eyes.

Taking momentary advantage, she broke through her own pain clouding her vision and leapt onto his back, her talons sinking themselves deep into his sides and she raked them down. His blood ran in rivers now, and it made her sick to see it flow down his sides.

She closed her jaws over the tendon at the back of his neck and tugged sharply against it.

He threw himself backwards and she collided with the wall. Her own wounds began to take their toll on her and she sagged heavily against it, slumping onto her side.

Smaug wasn't faring much better and was breathing heavily. A deep guttural sound that had her shaking inside.

She heard him stagger towards her. She felt pain in her weak leg from his claws digging into them and opened her eyes to blearily gaze at him. His eyes were the dark of night, no longer the warm green she had loved. HE growled warningly at her, the sound shifting into a wince of pain at the end. He gave her a hateful look before turning away from her.

Walking a ways away, he paused and without turning back to look at her said shakily. "I don't know what has come over you Sovia, but I hope I managed to knock some sense into you" he finally turned to look at her "I will return before dawn" and with that he walked off. His light fading into the distance.

Sovia coughed before struggling to her feet. Each step was agonizingly painful and when she finally reached the small indent in the massive pile of treasure, she collapsed next to her offspring. They were clicking in fright, trying to gain comfort their parents who hadn't responded since they were fighting each other. Sovia wearily closed her eyes before shifting her head slightly to bump gently against the shells. The babies inside calmed down but didn't stop buzzing and chirping until she rumbled against the pile of gold to soothe them.

She nudged her nose against one of them. _Too cold_ she thought, fighting back the darkness that threatened to overtake her. She reached out with one weak foreleg swipe a scattering of gold over each of them.

It took the last of her energy and she fell into darkness.

**OH no, this is not how I planned for this chapter to go but I suppose its good practice for those cursed cliff-hangers :D Hope you all liked the chapter and if you would be so kind as to leave a review before you push that gorgeous back button, it would be much appreciated.**

**Tata**


	11. The Dark

**Hey guys, it's your lucky day! I have another chapter for you because I felt so guilty about the cliffhanger before. Hopefully this heals your pain :D**

**By the by this is in Master Bilbo Baggins's point of view okay, just so you're not confuzzled**

**Anyways ONWARD!**

It had been a terrifying couple of days. They had barely had any warning when Smaug had attacked. The fire had been so hot, Bilbo was sure it had singed his eyebrows clean off. His waistcoat was stiff from the smoke and it made it hard to move. Not that they did anyway for fear of being overheard by the dragon. The dwarves had only just barely closed the door and they were all still quaking from the thought of it.

They had had no food for several days now and their supplies were getting thin. The prize buck Sovia had kindly given to them had long since been reduced to bones and they had heard nothing from the dragon since.

The silence was loud in his ears and the dark so complete that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of him. There had been no stories from Balin and when the time for sleep came there was no snoring, something Bilbo would've been thankful for at the start of the trip.

It was then of all times that he found he missed his home the most. His comfortable armchair beside a cozy fire, a cup of tea and a plate of pastries beside him, whilst reading a new adventure from one of his big leather bound books from his library.

It sounded heavenly. And to sleep on an actual bed with no stones or roots to dig into a soft back! Absolutely decadent.

Unfortunately he was a great distance from any of those things, stuck in a dark tunnel with an irate dragon out for his blood.

Good grief, they were in a pickle, an extremely dark, damp and silent pickle. In the earlier days when they still could keep track of days by the minimal light of the sun granted by a tiny crack which had long since disappeared, they had heard a scrabbling at the other end of the tunnel which was cut off by a roar from the other side. Whether it was Smaug or Sovia he couldn't tell since he hadn't been gifted with supernatural hearing, but he hoped it had been Sovia trying to dig them out. It was a nice thought, comforting to him in those long hours to think that help was on its way.

But since then they had heard nothing but were too nervous to find out.

Bilbo heard someone inhale louder than usual to his right. A trigger for someone when they were about to speak. Filis voice rang out clear through the silence.

"Uncle, do you think we should…"

"No Fili" came the gruff reply

"But just sitting here…"

"I said NO!"

Bilbo happened to agree with Fili. He would rather be doing something than waiting here for something to find them.

He rose to his feet, wincing as he stretched muscles that hadn't been used in a while.

"Come, come!" he said to his fellows "Where there's life there is hope! As my father used to say. I'm going down the tunnel once again. I have been down there thrice when I knew there was a dragon at the end of the tunnel, so I will risk a fourth visit when I am no longer sure. And again I think you should come with me"

In desperation, fear and boredom they agreed and Thorin was the first to go to Bilbo's side.

"Fetch us a light," he barked

A steel and flint was struck and soon a light bloomed forth through the gloom and illuminated Bofurs face, narrowed against the glare.

Bilbo too felt the pressure of the light upon his eyes but blinked through it as he began to walk.

"Now do be careful," whispered the Hobbit "and as quiet as can be! There may not be no Smaug at the bottom, but then again there may be. Don't let us take any unnecessary risks"

Down down they went. The dwarves, unlike the hobbit, were about as stealthy as a bull in a shop of glass. Meaning they made a lot of noise. There was a lot of puffing and shuffling which echoed rather alarmingly which in turn caused the Hobbit to jump at shadows and pause and listen. Eventually Thorin called for the light to be put out and darkness consumed them again.

Bilbo slipped on his ring and went ahead. But he did not need it, the darkness was complete and they were all gifted with invisibility, ring or no.

IN fact the Hobbit came upon the door so suddenly, the darkness was that complete that his outstretched hand grasped at air and he stumbled forward and rolled headlong into the middle of the dwarven halls.

There he lay, as still as a statue. He did not dare get up or hardly even breathe. But nothing moved or stirred except for a feeble chirp emitted to his left.

He cracked his eyes open. Nothing except for a dim glow coming from the nesting mound. THE EGGS! Where were their parents?

Bilbo crept forward until he reached the small trenches surrounding the nest. There in the middle lay the two eggs, glowing eerily in the black, small forms visible through the rough surface as they floated.

Bilbo could hardly believe this. He called to the dwarves for a new light to be struck.

The dwarves, who were still in shock from seeing their burglar disappear from their limited view so suddenly, hissed for him to be quiet.

But it was only until Bilbo actually stomped on the floor whilst screaming for a 'light!' that Thorin gave way and Oin struck a light from the flint in his pack.

They followed to where his shrill voice had last been heard and came to the edge of the dragon's nest. There in the middle sat Bilbo, who was peering closely at the eggs. The un-guarded _dragon_ eggs.

"Where…where's the lass?" asked Nori

Oin held his torch a little higher and the company all turned around to look among the piles of treasure. A large creature with leathery wings interrupted the glimmering of the gold around them.

The creature was the missing dragoness. Only a small distance from her young yet they had not immediately seen her for she was partially hidden behind a layer of gold.

They were startled when Ori snatched the torch from Oin and rushed over to her.

It was only when he got closer and her wounds were illuminated that they realized she was unnaturally still. Eyes closed, features relaxed, the Dragon Lady appeared to be…

"Oh no" said Bilbo softly.

**OMG what is wrong with me?! Aside from my obviously unhealthy addiction to fanfiction that is.**

**Really sorry for the cliffhanger. It was meant to….I dunno what I was thinking to be honest. It just kinda came out in a rush. **

**But it's my day off and there are no more chores to complete (YAY –pounds fist in air-) so I'll see if I can squeeze in another chapter, no promises though**

**:D**


	12. Awakening

**Don't kill me! Please this fic is not over yet. Patience!**

**Ahem…I know leaving that chapter was crueler than the last but I've put on some happier music to listen to so **_**hopefully**_** we shall end up with a better result. Oui?**

**Warning: spell check is off line, am getting it fixed tonight. If you see a mistake, ignore it and i promise to fix it later. :D**

**Alrighty then. Lets get to it….**

**On Y va!**

All the dwarves were aghast at the wounds inflicted on her. Nothing on this good earth could pierce a dragons scaly hide except for… another dragon.

Could Smaug have done this?

The evidence was unmistakable from the red scales within the wounds. The dragoness had, as far as they could see, fought back against her mate and been punished for it. It just proved the common theory that no one was safe around Smaug, including his beloved mate and the thought filled Thorin with a black rage.

He strode over to Sovia, snatching a shield from the treasure pile on his way past. Reaching her great head he bent down until the shield was down by her nose. He waited for several moments, gazing intently at the shield.

Behind him he heard the others shifting around but he paid them no mind, his focus solely on the dragon in front of him.

There! On the shield, a fog had appeared, small but still noticible. She was alive, but there was still the matter of her injuries to attend to. Thorin could not allow her to die, there was the matter of a life debt to be paid after all.

Standing up swiftly he turned to face his companions, who paused in their foraging of the treasure to glance in question at him. He took in a breath and then he spoke "She's alive" he silenced them with a look when several of them let out a whoop. Satisfied that all attention was on him, he continued, speaking mostly to Ori "She has aided us in the past so now it is our turn to aid her. Ori, Oin, Gloin and Bombur shall attend to the dragon, The rest of us shall search for Smaug"

"What about the lass's eggs Thorin?" asked Balin

"What would you have me do?" asked Thorin quietly"We know nothing about egg care…"

"Sure we do!" said Kili optimistically "We seen chickens sit on them!"

Thorin rolled his eyes "right then, you and Fili shall be acting mother hen"

"WHAT!" they said simultaneously. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"

Thorin shot them a look and they grudgingly headed over to the eggs and sat on them, ignoring, with whatever diginity they had left, the other dwarves who were busy laughing and mocking them.

"This is not the most comfortable I've ever been" stated Fili as he shuffled his rump on the oval shape.

"Do my ankles look bigger to you?" Kili asked with real nervousness as he examined said appendages.

Thorin sighed and ran a hand through his hair in agitation.

Bilbo, who had remained silent throughout this exchange and was busy wandering around, paused briefly and bent down to examine something before shrugging his shoulders and returning back to the group.

No one noticed the slight bulge in his sleeve.

Thorin himself was busy riffling through the treasure along with the others, searching for weapons they could use if the dragon returned. His hand brushed something and he held it up to the light.

"Bilbo" he called and said hobbit appeared at his elbow "This looks to about your size"

"What is it?"

"Mithril. Its extroadinarily light and is as hard as a dragons hide, take it as a gift, you can sought out your share of the treasure later"

Bilbo took the shirt with awe on his face, ignoring the guilt that plagued at the back of his mind as the dwarven king moved off, no doubt in search of the very thing he now had hidden in his sleeve.

The arkenstone was as beautiful as proclaimed and Bilbo could not blame old king Thror for taking it as a sign from the gods for his right to rule. It looked as though the very night sky glimmered in it center which flowed into liquid amber on its edges.

Not to mention it was very shiny. Bilbo snorted at that thought. He'd obviously been with the dwarves for too long and their tendencies had starred to rub off on him. Thankfully he was not emitting bodily functions as loud as Bombur yet.

Thankfully.

He returned his gaze to the downed dragoness for what felt to be the umpteenth time. And the guilt in his belly rose to his throat to become sadness.

From here he could make out the shapes of Bombur and Gloin, trying to lift the dragoness into what they thought to be a more comfortable position, only to reveal yet more gauges on her belly. Ori was busily applying the salve that Oin was hurriedly mashing. They were lucky that the dwarf had been able to find the herbs and plants he'd needed in Dale before they'd left.

Once the initial salve was put on, Ori ran over to his make shift bag and retrieved his sharp knitting needles. The only things they had big enough to pierce her hide to sew the cuts together. Whilst he was sterilizing the needle, Gloin and Bombur had found several animal carcasses with skin still on them. They cut this up to be used as thread, which Oin quickly threaded for Ori

Bilbo winced at the size of the needle. He'd never had been fond of the idea of them and was thankful that he'd never yet had need to have one used on him.

SOVIA POV

She felt as though she was swimming through water. Her thoughts were murky and when she felt as though she was just rising to the surface into consciousness, pain would fill her and send her tumbling back in.

Valar knows how long she lay there, suspended in the dark murky depths of her mind.

Voices eventually murmered their way in and she was surprised to find that she recognized them. The faces she associated with the sounds drifted serenely across her vision and she frowned internally.

Was she dead? Is that why she could hear them? Had she finally passed through the rain sheeted curtain to become one with the light? Had she really left her poor babies behind to the mercy of her mate?

Denial coursed through her. Well if she had then she was going to find a way back. She struggled against the prison of her mind, no longer comforting and peaceful to her. She writhed and thrashed, clawed at it with a ferocity to rival that of a Belrog, ripping away the haze to manipulate it to performing her will.

And eventually, a new pain began to creep its way into her. A pain she welcomed warmly for she recognized it as the gift it truly was, a gift of living and all the joyous pains that went with it.

She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly against the torchlight flickering just outside her line of sight.

She made to stand up but much to her astonishment, they were too weak to support her bulk. She gazed further off to where her eggs were.

Eggs with two figure perched on top of them.

A growl escaped her throat and abruptly, there was suddenly a flurry of activity all around her. Figures shouted around her, heavy booted feet pounded and she felt a heavy weight settle on her back and something tightened against her face.

She growled and thrashed her head against the object but it would not loosen, she was still to weak from her fight with Smaug, and her head crashed to the floor with a groan, her eyes still fixed on where her babies lay.

She flinched when a soft hand touched her nose and her eyes flickered warningly at them. Whoever it was slowly stroked down her nose and Sovia could not help but relax at the soothing ministrations.

Once she breathed slow and deep, the figure stopped and moved away. She opened her eyes she hadn't been aware she'd closed and began to shift again.

"No Lady Dragon! You'll pop your stiches!" said a familiar voice.

She turned her head slightly in order to see who it was. There he was, sitting near her with a medical smelling salve in his hand as he rubbed it into her wounds.

It was young Ori.

A lone tear fell from her eyelid to drip onto the floor. She croaked out "Ori?"

"Yes Sovia, I'm here and so is Bilbo, but he's sleeping at the moment"

"I thought you dead"

"Really?" he asked notchenantly, smearing the salve, "What made you think that?"

"The silence" she whispered back

That caused a laugh from someone she couldn't see but didn't bother looking because he soon moved into her line of sight. The elderly dwarf Balin squatted in front of her to tap her nose. "You gave us all quite the scare young lady, lying there all still like" he mock-scolded her "Its not often one sees a dragon lying in her own blood"

"How bad is it" she said with a sigh.

Oin spoke up "You have about 42 lacerations covering nearly every part of your body and you lost a lot of blood, but you are a lot bigger than us so I am unsure as to whether it would've affected you as much"

"I must look a fright"

"Its mostly just cosmetic damage. I've sewn you up so there'll be little scarring" the dwarf beamed with pride "You soon be your normal shinning self in no time" She was reassured until he muttered, "although I've never done cosmetics on a dragon before, Iso it's still touch and go as to whether or not she'll resemble a troll more than a dragon"

She blew out a pathetic puff of steam at him "I can still hear you"

The dwarf tutted under his breath and left to who knows where.

Sovia turned her mind to more important matters. "My babies"

"Aye, their alright lass, young Kili and Fili here are doing a grand job of warming them for ye"

"I thank you, but I'd feel better if they were nearer to me"

The young ones spoke up "And just how are we supposed to do that?"

She raised a brow at them and said "Just nudge them over here"

The boys started by dismounting the eggs, both wandered a bit bow legged and massaging their thighs as they went.

They tried to push the eggs over to her, but only succeeded in moving them about half an inch before they went away to find some assistance.

The bigger dwarves Dwalin, Thorin, Bombur and Bifur soon came over.

It was quite entertaining to watch. It took all of them to push one over and once she had it curled up at her side, she gazed at the other then the dwarves then the other egg again.

They took the hint but waved her off for a second for they were all puffing and panting form the effort.

It took far longer for them to push the other one over than it had been the first. She did have to admit they did well considering the eggs were up to their shoulders in height and about Bomburs girth in length.

She sighed when they were finally curled up next to her and painstakingly lifted her tail to wrap it around them. She checked their temperature with surprise and called "Young ones! Young ones!" when Kili and Fili trotted over, still sore but trying to hide it, she said "I must employ you to be dragon sitters for they are the perfect temperature…did you have to cool them down at all?"

The looked blankly at her while several others snickered. Kili turned to whisper in his brothers ear "Were we meant to cool them?"

Fili just sighed in tiredness before flopping down. "No Sovia, we did not"

"SPLENDID!" she cried "When I nect have to go out, you are going to be the first on my lists"

'What!" they spluttered, and when they realized she was being dead serious, keeled over into a dead faint, the both of them.

She looked at them worriedly. "Was it something I said?"

The other dwarves were too busy laughing to aswer her and she huffed in indignation.

Her strength started to leave her again and she lowered her head to sleep. As she drifted off, she could still hear them laughing.

It made her smile.

**YAY! shes alive! did you guys seriously think i was going to kill her off? Actually i don't wanna know the answer to that question.****  
**

**So anyway, where have i been? Actually i have literally been asleep for two days. Pretty much after i signed off on the last one and i seriously meant to post another chapter for that one, i fell asleep! i like only woke for about 3 hours yesterday and it turns out my parents had literally left the comatosed teen with the baby! Said baby was very good and playing quietly and didn't eat anything he wasn't supposed to. I was a little shocked to say the least. But as soon as they came home i was asleep again.**

**Never happened to me before but now i have like mega energy so after i wash the cars im gonna try pump out a few more chapters to make up for the time i've been away.**

**ok? ok**

**Hope you all liked the chapter and are having a good day.**


	13. A Chance for Survival

**Alrighty guys I have a punchline for ya.**

**Its not actually a joke or even funny for that matter (I just like the phrase) but I am looking for names for the two little firebreathers and am open to suggestions. **

**Anyhoo, sorry about the minor hiccup regarding chapter 12. If you notice any more problems do not hesitate to contact me cuz ya know its kinda embarrassing.**

**So I have my tiny teddy hundreds of thousands and some **_**happy**_** music.**

**Lets get crackin**

Sovia slowly built up her strength over the next few days. The dwarves had finally eaten the last of their supplies a few days ago and she was putting pressure on her own fat reserves in order to keep going.

She would have to hunt soon. The only problem was that she still didn't know what had happened to Smaug, though she supposed he'd run off or something to amount for his lengthened absence, and she could only hold her own light weight (for a dragon) for only a few hours before collapsing in exhaustion.

However they were getting desperate and the bestial part of her that was _completely_ uncivilized was starting to eye up her friends. Again she had to hunt. She did not put all that effort into protecting this stubborn company only to eat them herself. She may as well have served them up to Smaug with a bow around them. Only just the other night had she awoken from a deep sleep to find herself licking Bilbo!

The dwarves had already recounted their last visit from the red dragon and his attempts to roast them alive. Sovia had to agree with them it had been a lucky scrape and could not blame them for remaining unnaturally quiet for several days.

She still couldn't quite process herself that Smaug was no longer coming back to her. She missed him for who he had once been, not the beast he'd become. She did not regret telling him to leave in what Bilbo referred to as their marital disagreement.

She had to hunt. There was no other option.

She rose from her comfortable position on the largest pile of gold, and slowly limped her way down.

As she passed the group she saw Kili and Fili still sitting on her eggs, even though she'd told them they didn't have to. Thorin glanced up at her from his inspection of a jeweled sword hilt and raised a brow.

"And where do you think your going?"

"Out" was all she said as she slowly walked away from them. She wasn't stopped by anyone as her usual protectors, Bilbo, Ori and most recently Oin, Bombur and Bofur, were all sound asleep on their bedrolls.

As she neared the door, she began to shake from the effort of walking so long but instinct was mostly driving her now and soon enough, felt her senses heighten in response to the fresh air currently billowing from the exit.

She crawled tiredly up the side wall and quickly leapt off. Stretching out her wings was one of the most painful experiences in her life. The wounds had only just scabbed over and the heat of her body had melted the stiches away. But the new flesh that had grown there was soft and had not yet developed the hard scales to protect it and as a result she found herself struggling to stay aloft.

Before she crashed into the unforgiving land below, she made the decision to land just outside the forest and try her luck there.

Luck, it appeared was on her side as a herd of deer came into view. The creatures were one of the most suspicious animals she had ever encountered. Evry now and then one would nervously glance around and the slightest noise would startle the entire herd into a run. They were hard to hunt in the best of times but she was desperate and they were the only game she could smell in a hundred mile radius.

She eyed them, noting how the sickness in the forest seemed to be affecting the younger members of the herd. For now, the old ones seemed unaffected and because they were, you know, old, they were her best bet of getting a meal.

She slunk silently, her paws tilted awkwardly so her talons wouldn't scratch or scatter anything.

Two mature stags broke away from the herd to rutt. Their screams were making the rest of the herd edgy as they fought each other bravely. Sovia needn't had worried about making any noise for it was masked by the foolish beasts.

She was soon close enough to the two that she could feel the warmth flowing through their bodies. Slowly, so as not to startle them, she inched her talons closer and closer.

She lunged and the poor beasts ankles were caught in her talons. Swiftly breaking them she settled down to pant. The two deer were moaning and kicking weakly at her but she couldn't find the strength to put the poor things out of their misery just yet. Her vision was going blurry and she staggered slightly on her feet.

She waited for it to pass and when it did, it left a slight headache pounding away in her temples.

The deer were nearly beside themselves in their fear, and now that she'd gotten a hold of herself, she reached out to snap their necks.

She took the biggest one and began to munch on it, well aware of the fact she wouldn't be able to carry both on her way back.

The meat, in her hunger, became the most delicious thing she'd ever eaten and it was still warm from the heartbeat that had pumped inside it mere minutes before. She fell on it with a gusto that rivaled that of a pack of wolves.

As soon as she'd eaten her fill, she plucked up the other carcass and once again stretched her wings to fly back to Erebor. She would leave the one she'd picked at for the scavengers to snatch.

The flight back was as lot shorter than the one to the forest but she was grateful for this because her wings gave out from the pain just a few meters away from the front gate. She headed over to the battlements and chucked the carcass inside( internally hoping that there were no dwarves on the other side) before following closely behind it.

She latched her teeth around it's neck and began to drag it all the way to where her nest was. At the sight of her the dwarves leapt up to stare at the meat. She left it by their make-shift campfire for them to eat before making her way over to her eggs. Kili and Fili both hopped off as soon as her immense bulk thudded down next to them.

They had affectionately dubbed their egg sitting duties as egg-hopping because there only way to get rid of the cramps in their legs was to slowly stretch their aching muscles by hoping around on one leg.

Sovia was listening to them recounting the activity the eggs had done in her absence. The little creatures had begun to squawk back at them after their previous days shyness at the unfamiliar voices around them. They had both named their eggs as well. Kili had nicknamed his Nagather because his was the most talkative of the lot and Fili had named his Hiccup because it kept moving around and jostling him from his precarious perch.

Sovia was just about to fall asleep when Throin cleared his throat. "Sovia I'm sorry to interrupt but we may have a rather precarious situation" he waved a hand around the company "As you can see we are few in number and today we talked to one of the ravens still residing here only to be told of a group of men and elves marching over. Thraduil" he said the elf kings name with distaste "believes that he is _owed _a portion of this treasure as does the man the village of Dale has mustered around" he cleared his throat again by shifting uncomfortably "I'm sorry to have to tell you this but this man is also the one to have slain your mate"

Sovia blinked at him in shock before abruptly tears formed in her eyes. Smaug. Bested by a mere human? What devillry was this? "I hope this is not a ploy of yours Thorin Oakenshield to motivate me to kill the human so your treasure trove remains whole" she warned.

Thorin looked surprised at the accusation :I assure you Lady Dragon I speak nothing but the truth. These armies are on their way now. But we mustn't despair yet, I sent this same raven to call upon my cousin, who has had an army on standby for some time now to help me settle Erebor, however I fear we may need their numbers and arms more than their banners"

Sovia turned a puzzled look onto him "And why are you telling me this Thorin, Son of Thrain?"

"Just so you know what's going to happen in the next few days. Also I ahev another delicate topic to discuss" he appeared to be tired of standing so sat down near her head so he could look her in the eyes "I am curious as to what you plan to do now that Smaug has gone"

Sovia sighed, she had known it was only a matter of time before she had to leave this place. "Don't worry Thorin" she said quietly "I won't take up residence in your home for much longer. When would like me to depart? I must warn you though, my offspring only have a few days, weeks at best, before they shake off their shells and I know that as Smaugs family, we would not be welcome here"

Thorin looked away from her to watch Kili and Fili as they began to spar. "It would be unfair for me to judge you based on your relations to Smaug. As far as I'm concerned your not a threat to us" Sovia thought it wise to not mention her previous thoughts of eating the company.

"…So if you would like to stay here you will receive no ill-vote from me"

Sovia pondered his words "And what would I be if I stayed"

"A friend" he said simply before adding "I will leave you to think on it"

"Wait" she stopped him "What are your other reasons for this proposition"

Thorin smiled slightly "Protection for Erebor. Most would deem it unwise to attack a city guarded by a dragon" and with that he left her company to sit next to Dwalin.

**SO yeah shorter chapter…**

**I had actually written this about an hour afterwards, trying to finish it and going through it the rest of the day but as you know its awfully hard to read your own work. For me, it just sounds like word vomit and I have to apologise because I am definitely not proud of this chapter. The geeks I surround myself with could find no problem with my spell checker and just say I have a weird computer. So I'm sorry if there are mulitiple mistakes.**

**But on a lighter note, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have had a good day.**

**Weid things have been happening on fan-fiction today, several of my stories said they updated but then the chapter didn't appear.**

**Very strange :D**


	14. The Madness is Taking Him

**Hello again! Enjoy!**

**:D**

Sovia was feeling extremely grateful. Grateful to the dwarves for their assistance, the younglings for egg sitting and for her amazingly good genes that enabled her to heal rather quickly. What had once been unsightly scabs that had itched and torn open easily a few days before, now had a thin layer of skin stretching over them with even a small sprinkling of baby scales. The new scales were several shade lighter than her original color and at first she'd been worried, for as a dragon she was no without a small shred of vanity, but had been reassured by a certain Hobbit that it in fact made her more beautiful.

He described her as a swirling expanse of storm filled clouds drizzled with a hint of rain. Yes her hobbit was quite the poet and succeeded in cheering her up to the point where she stopped hiding under her wing to face the rest of the company.

Now that the pain of her wounds and her vanity were no longer as great a problem as they had been, she noticed that her hobbit was more…reserved than usual. He was incredibly jumpy. A trait that reminded her of her final days with Smaug.

The hobbit was hiding something, so of course with her curiosity aroused, she couldn't help but wander through the place where they put their belongings and saw with no uncertain amount of interest, a slight bulge in amongst his bedding. She gently lowered her head to nose at it and the glint of a jewel grinned at her. _Oh my dear hobbit what have you done?_ Sovia was ell aware of Thorins increasing frustration concerning the location of this jewel, but if the hobbit had hidden it, it must be for good reason and he would not find out from her.

She grasped the rough blanket in her teeth to drape it over the jewel. The Arkenstone was indeed a special jewel, she herself had coveted it for many years before its shine had worn off as her talon cleaner. Again, she thought it wise to keep this tidbit to herself. She did not want to test the line of Durins legendary temper which had smoldered for nearly 60 years against her dead mate.

Her thoughts rarely strayed to Smaug in these times and she found herself surprised at how little she missed him. Was she cruel? She hoped not.

Her dwarves, now that they were not at as great a risk at dying from starvation had turned their sights to the bitter battle to be fought at hand. Sovia herself thought it a bit rich, excuse the pun, for Thranduil, king of Mirkwood once Green to demand a portion of the treasure the dwarves had made all the effort of claiming. Not they should have to anyway Sovia thought grimly but she couldn't quite shake the Elven Kings eyes from her brief glance at him. The king who hadn't helped them against her mate and herself. She understood his reasons for protecting his own people but would it have really killed him to extend the hand of friendship and help the exile's of Erebor by giving them something so simple as food, a little medicine and shelter?

No it would not and because of this she did not understand his reasoning's.

Now the man of the village who she had thought she'd hate with all the darkness a dragon could produced, had been simple in his baring and appearance and for one simple deed of shooting the lucky arrow into _just_ the right spot to kill Smaug, had suddenly become their spokesperson and quite obviously gained higher favor from females if her nose didn't lie.

He had requested rather than demanded as Thranduil had done, that they be given a small token to help them rebuild their city and compensate the families for their recent losses. The death toll had risen to 97 with over half of that number being children with many more orphaned with no one to take care of them. She herself had been absolutely furious, no down right, _livid_ at Thorin when he turned the desperate man away because of his acceptance of the Elves aid.

She had roared her fury at him till the halls of Erebor were fair ringing with it and to his credit, the dwarven king did not flinch. But it was much later that he had admitted to Sovia that he probably should have accepted that tentative hand of friendship Erebor and Dale had once had in a time of glory, for they indeed had performed the dwarves a service in killing Smaug .

Sovia, in no uncertain terms had called him a fool. For with his first royal decree as King under the mountain, he had abruptly turned the cogs for war. Sovia knew the scent even though she had not seen a battle herself, she had seen the aftermath of one and had been too disgusted and saddened to feed despite the hunger roaring in her belly. The last time she had seen a battle ground she had asked her mother as to why they fought, for surely such a grand loss of life was worth some magnificent thing. Her mother, a dragon of the icy fire had bluntly told her that all they had fought and died for was for a petty disagreement of a youngling princess no older than the age of 11 declining the suit of a much older, smelly king who in his rage at being denied had declared war upon their country. Her father, the dragon of Fangorn had told her on that day as they saw the crows descending in a swirling black vortex that she should never trust in the affairs of mortals for they would lead to nothing but heartbreak.

She told Thorin of this story in the hopes of knocking some sense into him. But as she recounted of the old kings madness she was startled by a realization.

There was something in the Dwarven kings eyes that she did not like. The same change that had taken her mate from her, the very day they entered into Erebor.

_This was madness._ She could see it brewing in his eyes, like an incoming storm. He was letting the same madness take him just like it did to his grandfather, someone in his _line!_ And he could not see it in himself.

He was a shadow of his former self.

Sadness bloomed inside her which soon filled with firm resolve. She would not lose another to the pits of insanity.

And so for the first time, instead of just laying back and watching it happen, she spoke "Thorin" when the dwarf turned to look at her she began voicing her proposition "I have thought of a way out of this mess"

"Go on" his tone brooked room for no argument and she could tell by his tone that he was suspicious to her motives still.

"The matter of the Arkenstone still stands as a symbol of the Durin line, yes?'

She continued, not having to see his nod of affirmation, it was no secret now that he'd been hungrily searching the cast trove for a sign of the jewel.

"If you are to continue on this path of destruction, I believe it wise that you leave the Arkenstone where it lies and once the battle is over, I will show you where it is"

Thorin spun away from her to draw out his sword "You've known about this this whole time and you never thought to speak?" he spat at her.

She just rose a brow at him and placed a talon on the blade to lower it. "I must say it was amusing to say the least at least for a while "I say to leave it be fro your efforts, remarkable they may be, would be put top better use if you focused on the at hand" she paused to shift her legs under her "your people need a leader Thorin, you will only lead them to defeat and never again see the city in all it's splendor"

He just spluttered at her in indignation. Sovia knew that after taking a blow at the dwarfs ego, she would need to tread very carefully.

"But" she continued "If you were wishing to avoid the war…"

"Of course I wish to avoid it but the fact remains the treasure is mine! As a birth right"

She leveled a gaze at him and willed him into silence "The treasure is not solely yours by right. I believe you had a contract which strictly stated that 1/14 of the treasure be split between each member of your company, very reasonable I must admit." She praised "and I believe that your people, and you've admitted yourself that the people of Dale have as equal right to it as you do" when he looked about to interrupt her she talked over him " And am I to understand that the offer to stay with my young here in this glorious stronghold, means that we are not entitled to an amount for our bed? If you ask me Thorin, this is a peoples treasure, not for a sole creature for they just descend into the madness I can already see plagueing your eyes." Sorrow filled her eyes "Think for a second Son of Durin. It started with your grandfather and bought destruction on your entire people. It then came to Smaug who was lost to me as soon as we entered into this place" She looked about her "I wish to this day that I could have come here, somehow, into the brilliance described and left behind. But to Smaug, this treasure bought only grief from losing our young…and me" she added softly. "We lost four to humans seeking your treasure you know, the two currently being fussed over by your nephews are all I have left. This treasure if you continue on you path will bring you nothing but the grief it bought to its predecessors"

It seemed to be this that woke him up to the reality now facing them. He sat down heavily on a chest Sovia knew was filled with sapphires the same shade as his eyes, but unlike what he would've done previously, did not open it and rifle through it. His head in his hands he exclaimed "Lady Sovia what would you have me do that I am too stupid to see for myself"

"I would will that you give them a peace offering of your finest treasure. The Arkenstone of Thror temporarily, into their keeping."

Alas much to Sovia's grief, just by mentioning the loss of the Arkenstone sent the darkness rolling back into his face and he stood up angrily and walked away.

She stood up to make to follow him, yelling "Thorin Oakenshield I have not finished with you!" when he did not return she bellowed "Listen to reason! Stay this madness!"

But the dwarf did not return and she was left to slump onto the ground in defeat. She had tried but she had failed. Again.

A skittering noise interrupted her pity party and her head snapped up. "I know your there Master Baggins, come, you don not need magic here"

The burglar appeared and sat on her talon and patted her muzzle. Sighing he said "I heard what you said. This crisis has been burdening my own mind. Sovia" he peered up at her, anxiety filling his face "I am not ready for a battle outside of my books! I'm not ready for anybody here to die, not after they just got their home back. I miss the Shire and the ways of simple folk. These dwarves are so stubborn and and…."

The stress from the past few days were obviously toll on the poor hobbit, she had noticed that he was loosing weight and sleep from the way he looked. But as she held him as he cried out his frustration and fear Sovia could only nuzzle him gently for she didn't know what else to do. For what she thought she could do, she'd already tried and it hadn't been that much help to anybody.

**So yeah jus a little reminder regarding names for the as yet unborn babies!**

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I should be able to get one out tomorrow. Remember please leave a review if you want your views heard before you push that back button ;)**


	15. Pondering at her Reflection

**WOW! Is it chapter 15 already? Really? OMG where have all my chapters gone. You know I planned for this to only last like 10 chapters so am really quite stunned.**

**I am also extremely thankful for all the favourites reviewers and followers who have stuck with this story. I know a couple of chapters back I said we were nearing the end.**

Well it turns out I lied…unintentionally. I can still see a few more chapters in the immediate future. 

**(by the by **_**12reader**_** I completely agree with you regarding Thorin and am glad you are enjoying the story.)**

**Also I want to thank those who suggested such fantastic names for the lil ones. There is still a little more time if you want to have a say, but you better get in quick because there is only one dragon left to name and it's a boy! So yeah, think on it, sleep on it, whatever you guys want.**

**Okay enough with the sentiments**

**Lets get crackin'!**

A few days later and Thorin Oakenshield had still not calmed down from their little, pathetic in Sovias point of view, argument.

Again Sovia was reminded of the stubbornness of Dwarves and she cursed the Valar for it, before abruptly apologizing to the ethereal beings and offering up a small stash of gold to them in private. Sometimes she swore she could hear them laughing at her over reaction.

But the truth of it was that Thorin had almost completely been overtaken by the madness.

Everyday he got worse and worse, losing sleep, not eating and when he did his eyes remained fixed upon the cursed hoard before him. He had been growing more angry by the day and the Company was suffering for it. Why, just the other day he'd thrown Ori at a wall for accidently kicking a crystal shard so that it smashed into a thousand pieces.

Thorin had actually had to bee restrained while Ori cowered behind Sovia's protective paws and glare. Oh how she wished she could breathe fire! Just once! And you know what she'd do with it? Set fire to the Dwarven kings knickerbockers to take him down a few pegs.

He was nearly completely out of control but aside from the company protection of Ori, they did not question him at all. Sovia herself could see history repeating itself. And it was a grim outlook.

The envoys were due for arrival at dawn. Although this was only a formality. They knew what Thorin's answer would be without him even opening his stupid mouth. By morning, a war would return to Erebor.

Thranduil was not a foolish or naïve ruler, he would strike swiftly before Thorin's army of dwarves arrived. The dragon-killer would simply follow the older elf's wisdom.

Sovia feared of what the army would do once they found their way inside and discovered that there was still a dragon or two in the mountain. Her eggs would hatch soon, she had miscalculated and already the babies were moving about more restlessly than usual in weak attempts to break free. Kili and Fili had recently developed the habit of arguing with each other over which of the babies were strongest and who would hatch first. Kili claimed that because his one liked to move more it would, but Fili said that because he was the older of the two, that little hiccup would. This often led to brawls, as well as they could while on top of the eggs, and many times already, Sovia had had to separate them, remind them that they loved each other and that they were not females. Soon the eggs would grow in strength and she would finally get to meet them regardless of who came first or who won out of the youngling dwarf brothers. But this outcome wouldn't happen if the king remained stubborn. Even now he was ordering the company to reinforce the doors her mate had punched on his way in here in an effort to delay the strikes all knew would hit.

The foolish king would not listen to reason, even when it came from his friend Balin, who Sovia was entertained by every evening for his stories and wisdom.

The old dwarf had asked her whether she would make an appearance on the battlefield claiming that "A dragon is a foe few would dare cross". However she was cautious of the consequences her presence would bring. She did not feel ready to reveal herself to Middle Earth yet and when she had told the old dwarf this, he had just sighed and told her to do as she would.

After the night glow had risen from the east, Sovia had sat on her haunches in front if the river. Her reflection showed as a darker twin of herself. She almost willed it to speak to her, before being reminded of the twisted creature Gollum Bilbo had encountered in his journey. Despite his reasoning's for sparing it, Sovia herself could not see it, A creature like Gollum had been granted an unnaturally long life that had driven him into a raving lunatic which had more personality changes than an shifter. For some reason, the creature would not leave her mind this night and she was curious as to why.

Deep within her memories, several possibilities surfaced, none of them boded good will to the peoples of Middle Earth. Things she had been told from older dragons and even an _Istarí _from time to time floated through like a streaming tapestry. Before something clicked.

Bilbo had been dealing in a magic, a magic that allowed him to turn invisible and the world into vapor, something that he'd found in Gollum's cave, hidden as a small object, easily concealed, yet possessed the power to turn good creatures into ones better suited for darkness, shadows of their former selves.

All of a sudden a darkness plagued her mind, mocking her and tempting her at the same time with lies better suited to a shades lips. Memories drifted up of her listening to tales her Father had reluctantly told her about the war he had fought in, alongside dwarves, elves, mankind and an assortment of other free-peoples of middle-earth.

The one ring had been found.

How could she not have seen it before? She watched her reflections lips curl up and heard the growl that escaped them. The darkness that had been plagueing everyone, the acceleration of the madness in Thorin, her own irritability at the smallest of things.

It explained the sickness of Mirkwood once green, the wizard of Thorin's companies disappearance and it also explained the reason the wizard had been adamant they defeat her mate.

Sovia knew, had they not, he would have sided with the enemy to protect his family and to quench his own intolerable greed. And when the war began, she and her hatchling would suffer, as they always did in the end, for his choices.

The ring had been bent to destroying them all before the day was done.

Sovia's mind was frantically racing for a way, any way, they could be rid of the ring and eventually a thought occurred to her.

If Gollum had not wished to be parted from the ring, would Bilbo not wish it also? Sovia rumbled in thought and sand onto her forelegs to take a few gulps of the water, her reflection broke and ripped across the once still surface.

If Bilbo left to find company with the elves and men, the ring would be safe and perhaps the elf kings own power could interrupt its influence, long enough for them to resolve this dispute with all parties level headed and not out for each others blood.

But, she mused, there was also a possibility that Bilbo be killed on the spot for his alliance with the dwarves. He would need something to barter with to ensure his goodwill and perhaps give him long enough to explain everything to the hostile party.

She blinked at herself as the water settled dreamily to lie flat. For this plan to work, they would need a distraction and a bribe, what she knew not but for now she had to content herself with finding a way to get Bilbo to agree without having to tell him anything herself. The Arkenstone would work as a suitable bribe but it was risky. Thorin is an unpredictable factor in her calculations, but if it were to work, she had to hope that he would react in a positive way. Sovia caught herself rolling her eyes when another thought occurred to her, by Valar's grace she was on a roll tonight. When she planted the idea into Bilbo's head, she would need to take great care to make sure the rest of the company were completely unawares. If they were overheard and the others discovered what Bilbo had had in his possession, let alone his future intentions for the jewel, they would tell Thorin, who would kill the small thing without so much as a blink.

She needed to act swiftly for this to work but first she had to find the Hobbit. She rose to her feet, only now starting to regain her graceful steps. However she winced when she discovered her legs had died and gone numb whilst she held council with herself.

The Hobbit was playing a game of riddles with Kili and Fili, outlasting them till they were near in knots from trying to guess his latest one.

" I repeat my good fellows : a grandfather, a father, and a son go fishing. each get one fish but there is only one fish how is this?"

Sovia thought for a moment before answering, much to the shock of the three for they had not seen her. She snorted to herself briefly (I mean how can you miss a giant blue reptile with wings?) before she spoke " Its quite simple it is only one person. he is a son to his father. he is a father to his son. he is a grandfather to his grandchild." She beamed at them.

Fili and Kili groaned in defeat for the answer was obvious now.

"I have one for you Master Bilbo : I go around in circles, but always straight ahead, never complain wherever I am lead"

Bilbo thought on it for a moment before replying "A wagon wheel?"

She smiled "Very good young Master, give me another"

"Alright" he shrugged "What can you put in a barrel that will only make it lighter"

"Oh that's an easy one" she teased "A hole will make the barrel lighter"

Kili and Fili were looking at them in stupefied bewilderment. Obviously, they didn't get riddle games.

Bilbo could only think of one more "You use the knife to slice my head and weep beside me when I am dead. What am I?"

Now this one was tricky and she sat in silenece to ponder for a moment. Bilbo had just begun to smile in victory when she said simply "An onion, my turn"

"I am no sooner spoken than broken. What am I?"

She grinned and almost saw the steam rising from his own head. She waited for a few minutes before he finally shook his head in defeat. She whispered "Silence is my answer good Hobbit".she smiled warmly at him " That was a splendid game you"

"But I lost" he said mournfully

"You kept up with a dragon Mister Boggins, that is a feat few can do" said Fili

"Aye look at us! Sons of Durin, rich beyond belief, not too bad with the ladies either" he winked at Sovia who regarded him in disgust, before he was abruptly whacked on the head by his brother. "OW!" rubbing his head, he continued "But you confounded us with your wit"

The two's words seemed to make Bilbo feel better and Sovia believed it was crucial that she speak to the Hobbit alone. She made up an excuse on the spot. "Bilbo, you have small fingers"

"Yes" he frowned

"I fear I have dropped something of sentimental value in the river. Would you help me?"

"Why can't you pick it up?"

She showed him her talons "These are not exactly blessed to pick up small objects"

He made a huff in acknowledgement and grudgingly stood up. He stretched leisurely and the sound of his bones popping was audible but he followed her into the darkness, her inner light beating back the shadows for now.

_Nows the trick_ she thought _ how to make it sound like his idea._

**So yeah, gonna skip that conversation cuz we get to the really juicy parts next! Hehehe battle of the five armies with a dragon as referee, that could be interesting. ….**

**Again, if you want to suggest a name for the other remaining baby male, pm me, review me or you could ignore me and keep it to yourself :D no worries.**

**So this is the last chapter for the day (I know it's the only chapter of the day) but I have had another inspiration and require thinking time. My next fanfic will be a LOTR one with a new OC. Unfortunately it will be a 10****th**** walker series, but I'm good with that and if you aren't then you don't have to read it ;)**

**BUUUUTTTT….. I have also been debating as to whether I should involve Sovia within the new story as well but I suppose there's no rush to decide yet….**

**So anyway hope you enjoyed it**

**Oh and leave a review before you hit that back button, most appreciated :D**


	16. Birth

Sovia had not slept the entire night before, her mind too preoccupied by things that were fast spinning out of her control. For one, the livelier of her hatchlings had thrown off its keeper Kili, who had taken to sleeping (awkwardly she'd admit) on top of its rough surface. She had awoken restlessly from his girlish scream, which had echoed for an unfortunately long time before Sovia had finally found the actual source of her disturbance. Her little hatchling was lying innocently whilst her keeper staggered to his feet, still groggy from the deep sleep he'd been immersed in, emitting little frustrated squawks as the occupant inside tried to nut out how exactly it was to make its escape into the big wide world. Sovia had again noticed the other hatchlings quietness but was surprised to see upon further inspection that a hairline crack had spread over a majority of its surface but this occupant was in no hurry to see the outside world.

With this revelation, Sovia had again been forced to recalculate when the eggs would hatch and was shocked and horrified to find that it would be less than a day.

Would her young only have one day in which to breathe and celebrate the life around them?

The war was brewing, Thorin had rejected the terms of the tall folk, not that anyone was surprised but Sovia still found herself disappointed.

They were suiting up in the armor they'd discovered from the hoard to be ready for the battle that was sure to come. Despite their animosity at first to being 'egg-sitters' for the dragoness they had found it particularly hard to leave the eggs and had to be forced off their perch by Dwalin, who already dressed in full battle armor with a hammer hanging from his back, practically threw them into the make-shift changing rooms.

But that had been a few hours ago. Sovia herself was now keeping a nightly vigil en lieu of Bilbo as he set about the task he had set himself. She had watched, without his knowledge of course for her had no idea as to how he had been manipulated so as to thinking it was all his idea, had stolen away the Arkenstone from its hiding pace in his bedclothes and struck out for the human and elf camp.

Sovia shivered in worry, he should have made it by now and so all of them would be safe from the rings influence for now, as well as hopefully setting things right.

LATER….

Sovia woke from her light doze in shock. It was not even 2 hours before the dawn and Bilbo had returns. He was not supposed to, but she had to commend him for his loyalty to the company. He had tip toed inside, past the dragoness before stooping down to awaken Bofur for his watch. THE WATCH! Of course she'd forgotten all about the stupid watch they set. She was glad Bilbo had had the thought to return then, for his absence would not be uncommented on. She just hoped it did not end poorly for the little one.

They had set up camp near the once-grand doors of Durin, so Sovia could distinctly see the first sighs of a red dawn spreading over the horizon. It cracked through a gap in the wooden barricade to stream across and illuminate the Dragons face. The red light confused her for a moment, for she thought she'd gone back in time to when Smaug still lived and was waking her as if nothing had happened. But it wasn't and Sovia sighed as she realized the true nature this day would take.

Red dawns did not bode well.

But it served as a wake up call for the ignorant dwarves, who had still not learnt their lesson from the years before and not heeded the warning of the skies then, nor did they now.

Sovia sighed deeply and opened her eyes to feign her awakening. Upon them opening she spotted her eggs twitching slightly next to an unconscious Fili and Kili. During the night the Durin heirs had wrapped themselves around them but in the eggs shifting, they had yet to notice in their deep sleep, their noses were squashed and imprint of their shells were pressed into their faces.

Sovia let out a small chuckle that seemed to startle the members of the company not already awake, into wakefulness. Fili and Kili groaned, rolled over before sitting up. Took one look at each other's faces and laughed. The kind of laugh that's familiar, the one you let stretch on and on until it seems to stay with you long after you've stopped.

The laugh that let's others join in on the humor, which everyone did. It was good on a day that boded bloodshed to let loose that call. Like the trumpet of a triumphant dragon, Sovia thought mildly.

However it was not long until Thorin stepped up and the company sobered. "The raven had told me that my cousin has arrived with his army"

There was an abrupt amount of cheering from the dwarves before Thorin held up a hand for silence "However they are an hour away as of yet" he turned to face Sovia "If you wish to stay here, I have a condition"

She raised a brow "Oh really, Son of Durin, there was no such decree before"

"Well now it has and I am well aware for the impeding birth of your young, however I wish you to make an appearance as soon as they are out of their shells and safely away from the field of battle" he turned away, arrogantly assuming she was agreeing with him due to her silence. The others said nothing however most looked like they wanted to, but he was their king and he had just delivered a decree.

At that precise moment, before the dwarves could do more or speak, a horn sounded at full volume, vibrating the very ground from the force of its voice.

Sovia had to literally restrain herself from answering back to it in challenge. Thorin walked up so he could be seen from all those down below.

"So has the lord of elves and the dragon slayer come here to beg pardon from the king under the mountain?" he jeered at them.

"No Thorin!" came the melodious voice of the elf "We come to pardon terms of your surrender!"

The dwarf king bellowed back "You'll receive no such thing from mine lips! Be gone or suffer the consequences"

Another voice rose up "If you surrender Thorin son of Thrain, you shall receive that which you seek" This was the voice of Bard, the slayer of Smaug.

"And pray tell what would that be"

"The Arkenstone of Thror"

Thorin was silent for a long time, obviously because he'd seen the stupid rock clutched in Bard's hand. Sovia could feel herself tense at the anger she could see quivering his shoulders. "How did you get that" he finally bit out.

"I gave it to them!" came the voice of the Hobbit and Sovia closed her eye briefly before opening them again just in time to witness the horror of the king advancing on the defenseless Hobbit. She did not hear what it was he said but she did see the hands clutched around the small ones neck tighten.

She was horrified and let out a bellowing roar of anger at what she was witnessing. Cries of shock echoed outside the door. But before she could do anything a voice broke out of the gloom. "If you are displeased by my burglar then please, dear Thorin, do not break him"

The dwarf king spat "He is no longer welcome in Erebor, Go take him down to his allies before I throw him down Gandalf! Your wisdom is no longer needed in this venture"

Sovia rose to her feet as the little Hobbit came down from the battlements. Guilt teared at her when she saw the bruises around his neck already darkening and the tears streaming down his face.

Bilbo looked at her briefly, clearly at a loss at what to do before she came to a decision. Resting down as low as she could go, she silently gestured for him to get on her back. The hobbit wiped his eyes as he did so. Once he was firmly on she turned to her eggs and grasped them in her forelegs.

Probably looking ridiculous as she did so, she walked on her back legs to the large hole in the battlements and jumped out without even a word to the dwarves she'd come to adore. Her back legs curved underneath her to land on the ground outside the gates.

More cries of shock and screams of terror as the sight of her sounded out, but Sovia ignored them, instead turning towards the unfamiliar voice she'd heard she said "Gandalf the Grey, I shall take your burglar to safety and I only pray that this mess is sorted out without bloodshed"

With that she turned her attention to Thorin "As a king you should be disgusted in yourself, the offer to stay here I reject, I can no longer watch you destroy everything around you, including yourself" She sadly turned away from his look of fury before jumping off the ground to soar through the air.

She glided lower than she would've liked in deference to the hobbit clutching tightly to her back and her young held tight in her front paws. Vaguely from behind she heard the sounds of an approaching army and the sound of the dwarven horn ring before the despicable sound of battle broke out from the brief silence.

She was vaguely surprised that none bothered to fire arrows at her, but she counted herself lucky.

"Where to Master Baggins?"

"Thranduil and Bards encampment is just over that rise"

Sovia aimed herself downward for a steep dive and landed gently on her back paws, gently placing her eggs down on the ground. Her attention was solely on them but she vaguely heard Bilbo telling them she meant no harm and was as docile as a kitten.

She snorted steam at the implication and watched with faintest amusement as several of the men that had not been taken to fight, raised their spears at her. Smiling gently she grabbed one and tugged it out of the mans grip before standing on it, the wood splintering under her bulk.

After her little show, she suddenly felt tired from all the emotional upheaval of the previous days. So, ignoring the others, elf and man alike, she curled up to rest with her eggs tucked up close to her side.

They however did not want to be there it seemed because the occupants decided then of all times to try and shake themselves free. The heavy shells rolled over her tail and she let out a yelp of pain and surprise before she stood to stop them tumbling down the hill.

The red shelled young started to roll about under her paw in an effort to escape, Sovia imagined, whilst the other, more amber in color lay under her paw, not still mind you, but no where near as energetic as the other.

Bilbo looked at her with wide eyes, the surrounding fair folk even more so. One tentatively made her way forward. "Lady dragon, may I be of assistance"

Her voice was just above a whisper, a cool gentle breeze but underneath it lay a confident note that Sovia couldn't ignore. After all she'd never had to hatch eggs before so guidance would be welcome.

She nodded the Elf forward and the women crouched down in front of the eggs to inspect them. Just as she did, a resounding crack echoed through the trees.

A giant crack had appeared under the elf's hand. She looked faintly surprised before she smiled at the dragoness, who was by now obviously panicking. "You have a strong one here my lady, and it is impatient to breathe our air"

Sovia gave the woman a toothy grin but she still stared worriedly when the loose shell moved slightly, hesitantly, as if now that it had succeeded in its mission, that it had no idea what to do with itself.

The elf woman gently eased her hand under the loose bits of shell and lifted it up to peer inside. "Hello little one" she said softly. Before pulling it off.

Sovia could now see the tiny head of a baby dragon, all tucked up but head tilted up to blink in the bright light. It looked bewildered with its eyes that were too big for its face and it let out a soft chirp. It was confused at the sight of the elf woman and it snarled at her. Its lips curled up to reveal no fangs.

Sovia let out a rumble to calm her offspring and the eyes snapped towards her. As soon as it saw her, it scrambled to get out, front paws hung over the jagged edge of the shell and kicking with its feet before it flopped out of its shell. It landed in an ungainly manner, standing on its soft downy right wing as it struggled to get up, only to be hindered by its tail, which it then promptly tripped over.

The company surrounding her let out a laugh and Sovia distinctly heard Bilbo say "I never thought a dragon could be graceless" and someone replied with a curt "It's a baby master hobbit, I'm sure you were the same"

Sovia reached out with a talon to lift her baby and set it down on four legs, shifting its small wings away with a gentle brush and holding the tail down so it lay behind it. It squawked in indignation but settled down once it found itself in a standing position. She looked for any abnormalities because it was so light to hold, but soon relaxed when, upon further inspection, it was revealed to be female.

The little one hesitantly shifted one of her front paws in front of her, and then followed by the other. However she must have not realized that she had to move her back ones as well because she abruptly thumped onto her tummy. She let out a squawk of frustration, which soon became a coo as the elf woman moved to heft the baby up again. The baby dragon was half her height so it took a lot longer than it did for Sovia.

She shifted her hands over the babies form to smooth down the wings, which had floated up again in the slight breeze with a gentle pat before Sovia gently nudged the little ones rump so that it sat down.

The baby decided then that it would visit its sibling. Again she moved her front paw and, still in the sitting position, moved her rump after them. She let out a cry of success for moving on her own and bustled over awkwardly next to her still shelled sibling.

Sovia watched in rapt fascination as the little dragoness slowly shifted her back paws under her and rested her front paws on top of her sibling's shell. She squawked at it before rocking back on her heels to make the shell shake. The youngling inside gave a cry of annoyance.

This is when Sovia stepped in. She picked up the wayward youngling and tucked her underneath her wing. Thankfully, the filtered light through the membrane seemed to sooth the child and Sovia felt her settle before she started snoring softly.

Sovia let out a groan, which made the others around her laugh. "She's so going to be trouble," said Bilbo with glee. Sovia could only nod weakly before returning her attention to the other egg.

Now that its sibling was gone the other eggs seemed to feel the need to move and the big crack already on its exterior seemed to shudder and two tiny sets of talons peeked out of it. The elf maiden shifted on to assist it when it let out an annoyed squawk and the talons withdrew and the egg lay still. But Sovia shifted to intercept her and lifted her own set of talons to slide it under the crack and withdrew it sharply when a satisfying crack sounded and multiple cracks again formed across it. They spider-webbed across the surface and the hatchling inside seemed to find its energy and burst out of its shell in a flash of amber.

It landed on its back, feet in the air and tail flopped over to rest near its mouth, which it promptly started to chew as it looked around curiously.

Sovia felt a tear dripping from her eye as the action reminded her of Smaug. But she quickly pushed the sorrow to the back of her mind as the infant finally rested its gaze on her. It tried to shift, but it soon discovered it was stuck and let out a coo for attention, which Sovia was more than happy to give.

This one was heftier than its sibling and she checked it to find that he was a male. His wing had a giant crease in it yet otherwise seemed to be okay. It flopped over in her talon to lie on his tummy before it settled. It made no move to walk but seemed to be content to just rest there and watch his new world, eyes blinking serenely at the strange folk surrounding him.

Sovia looked up at the crowd around her and nodded to the elf that had helped her in thanks before gesturing to her to come closer.

"I must go to help my friends, will you watch over them until I return?"

"Of course…. uh are you meat eating dragons?"

"Yes but they will do fine on bread soaked in water until I come back. Bilbo" she called to the hobbit "I'm trusting you to guard them"

"But they're bigger than me!" spluttered the Hobbit

She shot him a look before she stood, making sure to not jostle the younglings and shifted the two closer together with her tail. The elf, which had darted off, returned shortly with blankets to heap on the babies to imitate the warmth Sovia's body gave off.

Sovia took one last look at her young and, remembering her promise, took off in the direction of the battlefield.

**So that's the end of the chapter. Sorry it's so late and if this chapter sounds a little forced cause it kinda was. However this is because I feel we only have one chapter to go as I made sure this one was longer and we got to see some baby dragons. Just so you know I am not revealing their names until the last chapter and have decided that one of the babies will be the focus of the sequel if I ever get round to it. **

**Again, sorry if there are lots of mistakes, I tried to get them all -_- but the computer does not co-operate with me.**

**Anyway feel free to leave a review before you hit that back button :D**


	17. The Battle of Five Armies

The wind came past in one rush as she pumped her wings faster. Scents of battle: sweat, blood and fear cloyed her nose till it burned and in the distance, she saw the sunlight glinting off armor and swords. This did not surprise her but she was concerned by what she hadn't expected.

Men, Dwarves and Elves stood on one side of the invisible line facing an army of black shadow. No sunlight reached their armor.

These were creatures of the dark judging by the repulsive scent. Their cries further added to the suspicion she could feel growing in her mind. The shriek of orcs and the screams of the goblins, very likely the same goblins the company had escaped from earlier in their journey.

A battle with five different races, six if she countered her own. She was almost there now, she could see the leaders: Thranduil, Bard and Thorin fighting at each others backs, their previous animosity forgotten as they faced a collective foe.

Amongst the dark of the creatures, spots of color were visible, made from the bodies that had already fallen. Their sad, trodden bodies, fodder for the birds of death that circled above.

Elves were lined up behind the dwarves, firing arrow after arrow in a desperate attempt to waylay the enemy, dwarves used heavy shields and hammers to break the ranks and the men of dale used this as an opportunity to push their way through the poisonous spears to kill the dark brethren behind.

Sovia tilted her wings slightly to circle above, fluttering her wings to distort her image to those below to remain hidden for the time being.

She felt her eyes narrow and suddenly her sight was magnified till she could see properly. She searched the thriving mass for members of the company but could see none and could only hope that they were not among those who had departed. But because he was the only one she could see, she dove down towards Thorin, claws outstretched, and grasped the cluster of orc's that had tried to land a blow from behind. She swung up to throw them towards their brethren, her tail flicked up and her back arched to swoop back down into the throng.

Arrows whizzed in her direction and she swerved widely. Unfortunately she wasn't watching where she was going and crashed into a troll that had swung its club at her. Her teeth clacked in her jaw and she whilst still disorientated from the club, scrabbled at the beasts shoulders, tearing thick gauges from neck to thigh and it bellowed louder still until it succumbed to its injuries and fell backwards. She stood on its carcass and roared. She reached out with her claws and swept them around at the goblins that tried to jump at her, her tail thwacking another troll in the eyes.

The lumbering beast clawed at them and staggered around before falling to it's knees, crushing its smaller comrades beneath its saggy knees. She jumped on top of it to tear at its neck and it too landed dead at her feet.

The army around her looked wearily at her, circling widely to try to avoid her talons. She sorted out the problem by awkwardly launching her self into the throng, the spears and knives they carried merely bumping against her scaly hide. She clutched several in her maws and blew hot steam from deep in her belly. The foul creatures tasted awful and she spat them out when she felt their blood start to bubble beneath their diseased skin.

"SOVIA!" the cry called from far over the sea of deformed heads but she leapt into the air to answer it.

She spotted the younglings, one on the ground wounded and unconscious whilst his brother protected him. Unfortunately, Fili was quickly becoming overcome by the orcs around him. Sovia hurriedly dove down and landed with a bang against the ground, The younglings underneath her vulnerable belly while she roared a challenge at the orcs. Their maniacal grins fell from their faces as the beheld the dragon. Several feigned jabs at her which she ignored until one hit her sore leg and she cried out.

She snatched the weapons from the creature and threw it through him, others collecting behind him to lie down like a kebab, dead for ones insult. Goblins broke through the orc ranks and leapt at her from above. She reared up to clap them into her paws. The sound was loud and the bodies between her paws, squished beyond all recognition and again she threw them.

The enemy backed of at her when she spat up steam, temporarily obscuring her from view. She glanced down between her legs and saw Fili sitting panting whilst holding hs brothers hand. Kili was bleeding and alarmingly pale. She wrapped her talons under his body and brought him close to her chest. She ducked her head underneath Fili's body and in answer to his startled yelp yelled "Grab ahold". She held back her wince as his arms yanked her head back when he grabbed onto her horns.

She leapt from the ground once again and sped away from battle.

"Where are you going!" Fili shouted over the roar of the wind. "We have to go back!"

"You have had your share of battle son of Durin" she said grimly "And your brother needs attention"

It didn't take as long to reach the encampment as it had been to fly towards the battle and soon she opened her wings out wide to float herself and passengers gently to the ground.

The young elleth that had helped her rushed over to her. "My lady, your back so soon?"

Sovia didn't bother explaining herself other than to gesture to the injured Kili "My young friend need attention"

The elleths eyes widened when she beheld the dwarf but made no objection other than to shout for her to move faster as they rushed to the medical tent.

Several healers came out to relieve Sovia of Kili and rushed him inside the tent. Fili jumped off her back and began to pace outside the tent. Sovia bumped her head against his chest to halt him and he threw his arms around her nose and started to sob as the exhilaration, adrenaline and the realization that came with battle, slowly flooded his body. She let him cry briefly before lifting her head, him still hiding on and walked to the tent nearest the medical. She placed him just inside the flap and murmured "Look after them " before she once again took off to head back to the battle.

She knew she had taken a risk in leaving the battle ground, but she could not bare to see a line of kings end. Too many in middle earth had already and their kingdoms had fallen to ruin and despair.

She dove towards the fighting armies and instead of the screams she was familiar with as she neared, she heard the whoops and cries of celebration before she hit the ground to stand near Thorin Oakenshield, crushing under her feet yet another orc keen on taking his head. He glanced over at her briefly before yanking his sword that he'd been struggling with out of the thick body of a troll.

It seemed to be a never ending cycle. Claw, tail, kick, steam, throw, crush, slice and bite with the armies of death never seeming to dwindle in numbers. She was just about ready to droop into exhaustion when she heard a thin cry that somehow carried over the din of battle. "THE EAGLES!" it said excitedly "THE EAGLES ARE COMING!"

And sure enough the great birds dropped down in perfect formation before breaking up to spread their power over the battlefield. One dropped in front of her and swept her with its wings causing her a temporary blindness the eagle used to leap up and tear at her face. Sharp talons hooking under the scales and ripping them away. Her own blood welled up and trailed like tears down to her chin. But as quickly and painful as the attack came, the quicker it stopped and she opened her eyes to see the wizard standing with his arms outstretched. The eagle seemed to bow it great head before emitting a tumultuous whistle that alerted its brethren that the dragon was not to be harmed.

Sovia tried to smile at the bird hesitantly but was distracted by a foolish orc, who had seemed to loose all his weapons and was gnawing on her tail. The orc didn't last long enough to sample the rare dragon steak he'd heard so much about. She raised the appendage and thumped it down hard to the ground.

She turned her head to glance around at the battle surrounding her and to her everlasting horror and wonderment, saw Thorin, son of Thrain, lifting his sword to meet that of a pale orcs mace. The impact of the weapons sent a vibration through the air which caused the armies to pause to watch briefly before returning to their task of annihilating each other.

She wade through the bodies around her, some living , some dead to reach towards him. She'd heard of this pale orc from one of Balin's more somber stories and damned if she wasn't going to be near enough to help the young prince.

Somehow in the short time she had known these dwarves, she felt responsible for ensuring the line of Durin continued. But the orcs seemed to sense this and began pushing their number towards her until she found herself stepping back, snapping her teeth at them, whilst her eyes remained fixed on the solitary figure.

She cried out when his sword clanged to the ground and tried to fly to his aid but the sheer numbers of the orcs that had jumped on her pushed her body to the ground. She snarled and beat her wings, which dislodged a few, but not enough. She thrashed around, jumping for a hairsbreadth into the air to flip onto her back. She rolled to her side and forced her aching feet under her. She could feel some of the bodies hadn't fallen off and were stuck on her spinal ridge. She shuddered in disgust but forced that to the back of her mind as she jumped, over the line of spears that were thrust up to meet her. The sharp blades scratched along her vulnerable underbelly and she beat her wings upwards to avoid a deeper sting. She flew low toward the ground once she'd cleared them, raking out with claws and snatching at bodies and biting deep until their blood dribbled out her jaw as she passed. Soon there was only a short distance between Thorin and her and she forced herself to go faster, only to see the orc thrust its clawed arm into the dwarfs stomach. It cruelly twisted until Thorins eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head from pain, before it negligently tossed him as if the dwarf was no of no more worth than a fly is to the world.

Sovia roared in anger before she ached up to stamp her back legs into the ground and, by copying the eagles from before, swept her wings until the orc had fallen off the small hill. She backed up until she could feel Thorins body underneath her tail and slipped it around him and placed her gently onto her back.

She noticed that around her the battle had begun to die down and several dwarves raising their fists up in victory, however none of them noticed the condition their prince, nor that of the dragon that protected him and had already started to head off in the direction of the encampment. Those who had once been enemies, thumping each other on the back and laughing at the jokes the new friend from the other race had spoken.

But for Sovia, now that she had the prince, she couldn't go anywhere. Goblins gnashed their teeth at her from her left side and the orc's smashed their shields against their chests from her right in a foul imitation of the dwarves before battle.

Her head darted left and right at she searched desperately for a way out that wouldn't jostle Thorin form her back as he wasn't holding on. She had to move fast because even now, she could feel his breath come unevenly and his heart stutter in his chest. She backed up until she was against the outcrop of the mountain.

There was nowhere else to go.

A loud shriek echoed from above and the eagles came literally out of nowhere to swoop down on the enemy. Sovia let out a call of gratitude and two eagles, one on either side of her, landed and lifted her wings up over their own. She relaxed her body as they took off, both eagles moving their wings in unison in the direction of the encampment.

The flapped their wings away from them as them landed to soften it, but Sovia still hit it with a thump which jostled Thorin, who slid off of her back limply. Luckily the eagle was there to catch him. This eagle then lowered him to the ground gently before both of them left.

Sovia swayed slightly in exhaustion. The voices around her became distant and she could only vaguely see humans and elves alike, beginning to assess the unconscious Thorin before lifting him bodily and heading over to where his nephew already lay.

They disappeared behind the flap just as her eyes slid shut and the world slipped away from her to continue in a blurry haze.

**Yeah so here it is. Sorry if there are any mistakes in this and I hope you liked it because it kinda took me all day. **

**Please leave a review before you hit that back button, much appreciated :D**


	18. Tents and Reunions

**Sorry for the wait everybody! Hope you enjoy….**

Sovia came to at an insistent tugging on her side and an unknown elf male was stitching up her side. Gashes she hadn't been aware of being that severe in the heat of battle were still seeping in tiny trails before they were blotted away by a warm cloth.

She murmured a thank you when he stood gracefully and left her to her own devices. She shifted her paws until the rested under her body and pushed herself to stand. It was hard; the stiches in her side pulled and her feet had gone numb from whatever poultice the elf healer had put on them.

But she put one foot in front of the other and headed towards the healing tent, ignoring the stares she was receiving from elf, dwarf and human alike. They whispered behind their hands as she passed and stood out of her way for the most part. The healer had come out of wherever he'd been and told her off in a blaze of elvish that she couldn't understand and even if she could, she didn't think she'd listen to him anyway.

Not much argues with a 60-ton dragon female when she's determined to move.

The healer's tent was just a few meters away when the elven king Thranduil exited it. He spoke to someone just outside of Sovia's vision before flouncing away.

Reaching the tent, she poked her head through the flap until the canvas doors were resting over her horns. Someone inside squealed in fright. Before scurrying behind something she couldn't see, a cabinet she thought, before her attention was diverted to the two prone figures she had come to see.

Thorin slept in the corner peacefully; despite the gaping hole in his side and appeared to be as good as you could find yourself after a battle despite his pale features.

However it was a different story for his nephew.

Kili lay on his back, bandages making up for his lack of shirt and bruises covered every inch of the skin that wasn't concealed. She winced when she saw the bandages wrapped around his head that had apparently been freshly changed, but she saw the blood that had already started to seep through.

He was in a very bad way.

His breathing was raspy and irregular and when she rested the top of her chin gently onto his chest briefly, she sensed that he had a temperature. There was a cloth on his forehead and a bowl of water next to him. She moved her head till it was just over his own and, with the tip of her tooth, tugged it away from his fevered brow and dunked it in the water. However she had to let go of this when she did so and she watched the dark cloth swirl in the water for a bit before, shrugging, dipped her head into the bowl.

Unfortunately, the bowl was a bit small and when she moved her head, the bowl remained firmly clamped on her face, the water still sloshing inside. The flannel felt rough against her chin, a testament to the wounds she too had gained in this battle, and the considerable amount of cosmetic damage she'd received when her scales were scraped off.

She tried twisting her head but that didn't work so she stuck out her tongue. The bowl fell off with and audible thunk, which bordered on the sound of breakage and flipped the now sodden cloth onto the youngling's head.

At contact the dwarf's eyes shot open and he yelped before blearily blinking his eyes of water. Sovia smiled at him, but to her surprise, he screamed. Now one could not blame him for his action, for it is not everyday that one would wake up from a deep sleep to see a large eye above you so his reaction, though unwise, is entirely understandable.

Sovia reared her head back in surprise and the tent, which was very small, came back with her and covered her head. She roared a little in frustration when the blasted thing wouldn't come off. First the bowl and now the fricken' tent?! The universe hated her.

She tried sticking her tongue out like she'd done with the bowl, but the material just stuck to her tongue and made it hard for her to breathe. She flopped her head up and down, side to side before it finally crashed to the ground in dejection.

Oh the humiliation! She would have to spend the rest of her life with a tent for a head! In the future when they remembered her name, they would know her as Lady Sovia of the TentFlap. Oh how degrading,

She huffed pitifully, which caused the material to finally ease its grasp on her tongue, not a moment too soon I might add, for suddenly she was assaulted by several weights crashing down on her head till she couldn't move it for want of air.

A shadow moved on the outside and suddenly pushed forward against the fabric and a knife appeared and made a small hole. The figure moved down until the hole turned into a slit and Sovia was able to struggle out of the confines of what remained of the tent.

She turned to look upon her savior. Thranduil looked upon the dragoness sternly enough to make the being, ten times his size, shuffle her feet awkwardly.

"What" said the otherworldly being as he sheathed his small knife "were you doing in the healing tent?"

Sovia beamed at him in response "I was seeing my young egg-sitter and I helped him with his temperature" she swelled her chest with pride "I cooled him down and" she added sheepishly when she glanced around the imposing elf to gaze at her charge, who was busy trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Thranduil pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Lady Dragon, you too are not without need of rest and the young dwarf prince should not be moving or waking up from his sleep for sometime"

Sovia looked at the ground "I was only trying to help" she said downcast. She then proceeded to give him the dragon version of 'puppy-dog' eyes "Can I talk to him now he's awake?"

"No" the elf said firmly "He will be returning to sleep"

And before Kili could utter a "Wait…What" Thranduil had strode over to him and waved his hand in front of his face, causing Kili to slump before falling back to his pillows, which the elf plumped for him before returning to face the dragon.

"I understand your worry so I will tell you this" he paused briefly before continuing" The young prince, despite the severity of his injuries, will yet live but as for Thorin Oakenshield" he glanced over at the dwarf in question "I am afraid he slipped away sometime in the early hours of this morning"

Sovia at first didn't understand his meaning but then realization set in and horror appeared on her face. She shifted out of the tattered remains of the tent and headed over to the body of Thorin Oakenshield. Now that she was focusing on him rather than his nephew, she could suddenly hear the loud absence of his heart beat.

She bowed her head to him in respect before opening her jaws and roaring at his corpse "Damn you Thorin Oakenshield! How dare you die and leave your short younglings to fend for themselves!" Someone coughed behind her, muttering 'we are adults' but she ignored them and quieted her voice slightly "How dare you die before my debt could be repaid to Durin? How dare you die and leave us before you could sit on your throne after your long years of hardship?"

She turned her head away from Thorin sadly, no tears for they burned too many for the injustice done on this day. She looked to Thranduil. "The pale orc?" she asked.

"We found his body with Uncle Thorin's knife in his skull and burned the filth before it could rise again" Spat another familiar voice. "She responded with a good, at least he washed his hands of _his_ debt before he died" before turning to face the speaker.

It was Fili who had two thick coils of rope in his hand. She followed the line of rope until she saw what was on the end of them.

She blinked. "You bound my babies?" she growled.

Fili's eyes were red grief and he rested his hand on the head of an amber dragonet, which cooed and pushed into his hold. The rope in his right hand was taut and on the end was a red blur, trying to chase one of the cats that had voyaged with the men of Dale. Fili tugged on it twice and the red fiend stopped with the cat half in her mouth. A faint yowling could be heard and after another tug from Fili, the dragonet spat it out and trudged over to Fili.

Sovia looked stunned "You _trained_ my babies"

Fili just sighed and ran a hand through his hair before telling her about what had happened in the days of her being unconscious. Apparently the babies had stayed with her for most of it, but then they'd chased after a few of the soldiers who had just returned from the battle and tried to chew their legs. However with baby gums, the men only had a few bruises to add as proof. Fili, the only one around apart form the rest of the surviving company, who was big and brave enough to control them.

He'd wrapped the rope around their jaws and tugged them over to where the food was and taken them straight into the kitchens where they abruptly began to eat everything they could in the span of five short minutes before he could grab them again, by swallowing it whole. That day they had lost, the pot, the stew, the ladle, the bread, the dog, the trout, the chair, the cook's apron and several chunks of wood. Plus several assorted shoes and socks, but only the left ones because they seemed to smell better.

Sovia shot him an apologetic look. With all the fuss of war, his uncle dying, his brother injured, his impending coronation and two baby dragons to look after, she was surprised the poor boy hadn't snapped his tether. It was a trait to be admired.

"I apologize Fili, I did not understand the circumstances. I am afraid I sometimes forget how much stronger we dragons are in comparison to others"

Fili let out a half-hearted chuckle "Yeah, well Dwalin, Bofur and Bombur enjoyed playing tug of war with Synge over there"

"Synge?" Sovia inquired

"Oh yes…ummmm we sort of named them because we couldn't keep calling them red and gold. We hope you don't mind"

"We?"

"Kili and I before… well yeah we had two names and he wanted his one to be Synge if it was a girl, said something along the lines of it was so cliché it was cute and terrifying at the same time"

"And what did you name my son?"

"Bailfire"

Sovia pondered for a while; rolling the names over in her mind before saying "I think it's fitting that the line of Durin name the dragons what they wish. I'm only thankful it wasn't something like 'Sweetie and Kirk' or 'Prancer and Dancer' "

He smiled weakly before handing the ropes over to her. She tugged at them and Synge and Bailfire trotted over to her. When they saw who held their leash, they bounded over with impressive force. People shifted quickly to make a path and Sovia caught them in her paws. Using her teeth, she nipped the leashes off them, ignoring the whimpers behind her and placed them gently on the ground. Bailfire immediately headed back to Fili who sat on the dragonets haunches and Synge went over to sniff and blow air at Kili, whose mouth was hanging open. He coughed and startled the dragoness who ran back to cower under her mother.

Sovia rolled her eyes before a thought occurred to her "Where's Bilbo and the rest of the company?"

Fili sighed again "They're in the food tent" when she made to move off he said quickly "Please, don't take them in there" indicating the dragonlings.

Sovia looked into his tired face and back towards his brother, who was rapidly disappearing as the elves and men quickly set up another tent around them. She made a split second decision and began walking towards Fili, grabbed his hood in her jaws, made a rumbling in her throat for her babies to follow and, ignoring Fili's indignant 'heys!' stomped off in the direction she thought the food tent was.

Fili grudgingly gave her directions when it became apparent she was lost in the maze of tents. Her babies, grabbing onto her tail playfully causing her to wince slightly.

She heard the food tent before she saw it and it became quite apparent where her dwarves were. The canvas walls were splattered with food and loud singing could be heard as well as a couple of shouts, indicating a small brawl.

When she poked her head through the tent, mindful of how far she stuck her head in when it was nearly swiped by a passing chair, she was once again met by a pregnant silence.

Broken only by the company's various shouts of "Lass!".

She smiled and nodded at them when they inquired into her health, for Fili was still in her jaws. She gently deposited the sulking dwarf and he was immediately shoved into a chair by Dwalin and chucked a plate of food at him and a mug of ale was pushed towards him.

Conversations started up again and Sovia enjoyed the new stories they had to tell regarding the battle. All of them left out Thorin's death and just focused on his deeds they'd seen in the battle. To Sovia, it was a sort of healing to hear that after she'd left, Thorin had snapped out of it, especially when faced with the reality of a combined Goblin Orc army on the borders of his newly reclaimed kingdom. How he'd single-handedly killed the trolls Sovia had missed, defeated thousands of Orcs and cleaved hundreds of goblin necks. He'd saved Ori from a fatal arrow by brushing it to the side and crushed the skull of an orc trying to get the drop on both Dwalin and Balin.

Bilbo throughout all this said nothing, and Sovia learnt from Nori that Thorin had apologized to the small hobbit among other things and that Bilbo was taking it quite hard. He hadn't spoken a word since then except to tell the others that he would be leaving after Thorin's burial to go home, he said, to his armchair, his books and his garden and away from the trials and tribulations of politics and war.

Sovia looked at him carefully. There was a newfound age in them that was new and a deep sorrow that she didn't understand but she amounted it to him being a hobbit for she had found they were overly gentle creatures despite their bravery.

Something was wriggling under her body and Sovia lifted herself up slightly to reveal the two small heads of her children. Bailfire seemed to be content to just stay underneath his mother and observe the ongoing antics of the dwarves, who by now had consumed so much alcohol they were becoming very merry and rosy cheeked.

Synge however, was practicing her stalking. She was eyeing the dwarves, picking her target. She dismissed Fili, he was not for chasing…. unless he was on fire the little dragon thought slightly guiltily when she glanced at the singed cloak he was still wearing, no if she chose him then Bailfire wouldn't share him anymore. She wanted her one to stop being stupid and get out of his cave. He was starting to smell and was always bleeding and there were tall angry people who stood around him all day and told her off like she was some kind of dog. She scowled at the thought. She only wanted to sit with him like he'd sat with her.

The little dragon shook off the melancholy thoughts and shifted slightly to her right to get a better vantage point.

Sovia saw these thoughts travel across her face and was fascinated by them. Especially when she watched her eyes sharpen in a mirror of her mates countenance as she spotted her target. An unwitting Bofur, whose hat was sliding around on his noggin at funny angles, had caught the stalking dragons eye. A bit of mischief glinted in Sovia's eyes now, and she kept silent.

Synge's eyes narrowed and she coiled her body like an overlarge cat about to spring. She had perfect form….

Except she was a baby, with paws too big for her body and eyes that bit off more than she could chew. She jumped wrong and landed in the middle of the table, which had become silent. The poor thing was covered in the remnants of the company's meal and in her embarrassment slowly slunk over to Fili and sat in front of him. Her size blocked his face from the view of the company, but one could still see the hand that had reached up to pat her back. Synge looked accusingly at Bofur, who was oblivious to the little dragons scorn.

Didn't he know that he'd moved several inches? How dare he?

Sovia laughed at her daughter who shot her a betrayed look and she huddled in closer to Fili who tapped her on the shoulder. The little dragon huffed in response to the silent command before rolling off the table to sit underneath it on his feet.

Bailfire snorted in response before he cuddled up closer to Sovia's warmth. He didn't mind sharing his human since Synge's was busy sleeping the day away. Also because she wasn't allowed to go near him for too long because she had a nasty habit of breathing fire when she was bored. The tall people were not as much fun as the short ones and had told both him and his sister off for burning down the cave.

Four times.

Despite the sadness in the air, Sovia found herself happy that the company was, except for Thorin, alive and/or well on the road to recovery, her babies were safe, she was alive and not confined to the darkness of Erebor, which was rapidly filling with life and light as dwarves and man worked together to bring it back to its fabled brilliance.

Today, life was good.

**In case anybody is wondering, there will be one more chapter after this. It will be posted either later tonight or tomorrow because I want to get this story done before I go to University on Tuesday. Also, I'm going to post up the first chapter to my new story which is also a hobbit story but will be a lot slower in updates as I actually will have to do work now that my holidays are almost over.**

**It going to be quite the culture shock.**

**Anyways I hope you all enjoyed and are happy with the fate I've decided for this story to go. I honestly didn't want to kill all of them, so unfortunately, despite his hotness, I killed off Thorin :'( **

**I never agreed with killing off the entire line of Durin so Fili and Kili will live long happy lives under the mountain, doing whatever dwarves do and improving their 'majestic' stares. (Hint hint Izzybr :D)**

**Please feel free to leave a review before you punch that back button , much appreciated :D**


	19. Endings

The burial of Thorin Oakenshield was as one would expect, somber. The great king under the mountain was placed into a stone crypt deep within the mountain, cushioned from the cold stone by soft furs. He was buried with the Arkenstone and with the sword Orcrist which had been taken from him by Thranduil when they passed through his lands. The elf king said it benefitted him none to keep the sword and that it should rest with the noble soul.

Their rivalry was ended. As well as much of the animosity between elf and dwarf. It was still there of course but it seemed as though Thorin had taken most of it with him, as a final sacrifice for his people to end the conflict and hopefully re-forge the old alliance.

Sovia sat near the tomb long after the procession had ended, staring at the runes that had been carved around it, telling the story of the great Oakenshield's life. There was so many things she read that hadn't even known about. The things she read made her admire him more than she did. It's funny though, Sovia thought, how everyone forgets the mistakes of the past . Even now, whilst many of the dwarves were celebrating the reclaiming of their home, a small few were already clamoring for the possession of the throne, despite the fact that the Durin heirs were still alive and well. Already she had had to forcefully remove an arrogant dwarf from the stronghold who'd snuck up on Fili to stab him (She'd chucked him out the nearest window and threatened him with being her next meal if he returned). It was this that had resolved her to accept Fili's offer of staying within Erebor.

She would do this for Thorin. Besides, she didn't want to be the one to tell her little ones that they had to leave their humans.

Sovia sighed and shifted to her legs. Her back one still buckled under her weight and the elf king had told her that it would probably never fully heal. But such was life and she had hers to get on with. She bowed her head briefly to Thorin's tomb before leaving.

She wandered through the great halls, unrecognizable as the nest she'd maintained just a few short weeks ago. Where there once was darkness, small torches flickered merrily in their stands and heavy tapestries now hung on the walls. The floors were freshly swept and the whole place smelled like apples and ale. It hadn't taken the combined efforts of the dwarves and men to clean and move back inside.

She followed her ears to the west wing, a place she'd never ever seen in the light. The caverns were high and elaborately carved and had great stone fireplaces on either side. The people of Erebor had pulled a long table into the center and were currently clustered around it and, because there were no chairs, once they had their food, they shifted into small groups and sat cross legged around the room.

She found her younglings here as well. Bailfire was accepting snippets from Fili's meal whilst he lay curled around him by the fire. Fili was talking to a few dwarves who Sovia didn't know, but assumed they were old friends of his from the blue mountains. His friends kept staring at the dragon before them warily but Bailfire was more concerned with getting more food from Fili's plate and was currently nuzzling into his side for more.

Synge was allowing Kili to use her as a stand for he was still shaky on his legs and an occasional wince was seen from him. Her daughters elegant tail whipped around the air, a signal to her want to play, but it was a testament to her bond with kili, that she was helping him as gently as a hyperactive youngling could.

She was extremely jealous around Kili, she couldn't stand to have his attention focused on anyone but her. She sat on his feet and pushed against him when he was sat down and talking to someone and blow plumes of smoke from her maw when anybody got too close. She was the image of Smaug, except she valued Kili, rather than treasure.

Kili had already had words with her, to which she had bleated and sighed in response (since she still couldn't talk yet) and she was slowly, but surely learning to share her dwarf.

Her younglings were so attached to their dwarves that they only really came to her food and rough play, since the dwarves couldn't really do either now that they were bigger and were developing sharp baby teeth (Balin had found that out the hard way when he'd been checking for them). They still slept near her, Bailfire refused to sleep anywhere else (he's such a mamas boy) but Synge had to be forcefully removed from Kili's room with threats that she'd crush him if she stayed with him and slept on her mothers tail, but inched away till she was buried in a small mound of gold a little ways away.

Sovia had been allowed to keep her nest in the treasure room which was good for her because it was the biggest place and she wasn't endangering anyone else if she rolled over during the night.

Sovia smiled when the company shouted for her to sit near them. She walked over and curled herself around Bilbo. It was his last night in Erebor, for he was returning to the rolling hills of the Shire at dawn in the morning. He'd offered for Sovia to accompany him, but she had refused for she felt her presence was needed to help advise and protect the new king under the mountain for the time being. But, she promised him, there would be a dragon coming to tea one day so he had better be ready with a feast fit for a king. Bilbo had paled slightly at that but quickly smothered it with a laugh which sent them all into stiches and left them hiccupping for no reason except for the sound.

Some dwarves she didn't know had dragged over a deer carcass for her to munch on. She'd heard them mutter as they'd slunk away that it saved them having to try and rescue the dwarves should she feel hungry later. She had only bitten into the soft flesh of his hind quarters before she had pushed the deer towards the dwarves, who, despite the meal they'd just consumed, were eyeing it hungrily. Synge and Kili had joined them so Synge could tear off her own meal and deposit him next to her mother so she could go for a run before she had to sleep.

Sovia was extremely content with her lot in life. Her younglings were safe, the dwarves had reclaimed their rightful home and the line of Durin continued.

All in all, the dwarves and men of Erebor had a grand arrangement with Sovia the dragon and her michevious younglings. She didn't eat them and they try and kill her.

It was a more harmonious existence that anyone could expect from a dragon.

_Sovia protected Erebor and the line of Durin till the end of her days. Even on her death she still claimed that she had not repaid her debt to Thorin Oakenshield who had died so many millennia before. She even held true to her word that she would visit Bilbo Baggins in the Shire. She fell in love with the place despite the fact that she terrified most of the locals. Bilbo indeed had supplied her with a feast upon her arrival that she had consumed gratefully. His nephew Frodo was quiet but liked to settle near her when he was younger to hear all of the tales she had to tell him (There were many for her favorite companion was Balin who was a fantastic storyteller) and he showed her around the village, much to the envy of his friends who like to use the dragon as a climbing frame. She never minded but they did often tickle her with their small feet. But it wasn't long that she said goodbye to Bilbo and his young nephew to return to her duty in Erebor. She remained fiercely loyal to the line of Durin and it was said that when the stronghold fell into ruin, that she had wrapped herself protectively around the last of the line and died with them._

_Bailfire had left on his own after the death of his friend Fili king-under-the-mountain to wander Middle Earth, He befriended several elves on his journey and stayed within several of the cities in order to pursue his passion for knowledge and truth._

_His sister Synge, had also left Erebor, accompanied by her friend Kili, who desired to see more of the world. She never really felt comfortable letting anyone she didn't know near him so they often travelled alone. However it is said that he met and fell in love with an elf and stayed with her till the end of his days. At first Synge was not sold on the elfish beauty, but soon warmed up to her when she discovered a fondness for the child she bore. In this child she found a kinship that rivaled that of the bond she had with Kili._

_The line of Smaug and Sovia became entwined with the fate of Durin which endured long after the War of the Ring until the line faded completely from existence._

_They became the last dragons to appear within the volumes of Middle-Earths history._

**Sniff Sniff…..I finished it. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me despite everything, from bad grammar and spllgne to half assed storylines. You guys are the best! ;D**


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